Victorian is the term for the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 1837 to 1901, and for the furniture, architecture and decorative arts produced in Britain during those years. It was not a single style but a long succession of revivals and new movements, shaped by industrial manufacture, a growing middle class and Britain's worldwide trade.
Early Victorian taste carried on from the late Regency, favouring rosewood and mahogany, rounded forms and the balloon back chair. The Great Exhibition of 1851 celebrated industry and ornament, and the decades that followed saw Gothic, Elizabethan, Rococo and Renaissance revivals, often freely combined. Machine carving, cast iron, electroplate, pressed glass and transfer-printed ceramics brought decoration within reach of ordinary households. In reaction, reformers such as Augustus Pugin, John Ruskin and William Morris called for honest construction and craftsmanship, leading to the Aesthetic and Arts and Crafts movements later in the century. Typical Victorian pieces in today's market include pedestal desks, chesterfields, overmantel mirrors, cast iron fireplaces, oil lamps and dinner services. The best examples are solidly made, and many sit comfortably in modern homes.
