Charles Eastlake was an English architect, designer and writer, Charles Locke Eastlake, whose book Hints on Household Taste, first published in 1868, became one of the most influential guides to interior decoration of the Victorian period. He later served as Keeper of the National Gallery in London, and was a nephew of the painter Sir Charles Lock Eastlake.
Eastlake argued against the elaborate, machine-made ornament and curvaceous forms fashionable in mid-Victorian furniture, advocating instead honest construction, rectilinear shapes, shallow carving and incised decoration, inspired by medieval and Early English models. He also wrote a history of the Gothic Revival. Although his own designs were few, his book was hugely successful in the United States, where manufacturers produced large quantities of furniture in what became known as the Eastlake style, characterised by spindles, chamfered edges, incised geometric and floral ornament and turned details. Eastlake himself was reportedly unenthusiastic about some of the furniture sold under his name. His ideas contributed to the reform movement that led to the Aesthetic and Arts and Crafts styles. Original editions of Hints on Household Taste are collected by those interested in design history.
