Painted furniture is furniture decorated with painted finishes, whether a single colour, decorative motifs, imitation woodgrain or marble, or elaborate pictorial scenes. Paint was used both to embellish fine furniture and to protect and enliven cheaper softwoods such as pine and beech.
Painted furniture has a long history in European interiors, from medieval chests and Renaissance cassoni to the painted furniture of Georgian England, where Robert Adam and his contemporaries designed satinwood and beech pieces painted with classical figures, flowers and ribbons. The late eighteenth century produced fine painted chairs, commodes and pembroke tables, and Regency furniture often imitated rosewood or bronze in paint. Country furniture across Europe was painted in vernacular styles, notably in Scandinavia, where Gustavian pieces in soft greys and whites remain highly prized, and in Provence, Italy and Germany. Collectors value original paint above all, with gentle wear indicating age, while later overpainting or stripping reduces value. Buyers should look closely at the edges and recesses for evidence of earlier layers. Antique painted furniture adds colour and charm to interiors, sitting well in bedrooms, kitchens and country house settings.
