Jacobean is the term for the style of English architecture, furniture and decoration associated with the reign of James I, from 1603 to 1625. The name comes from Jacobus, the Latin form of James. In the antiques trade it is often used more loosely for oak furniture of the early to mid-seventeenth century as a whole.
Jacobean design developed directly from the Elizabethan, combining native traditions with Renaissance ornament learned largely from Flemish and German pattern books. Great houses such as Hatfield House and Knole display its typical features, including elaborate carved staircases, plasterwork ceilings, panelled rooms and decorative strapwork. Furniture was made principally in oak by joiners, and characteristic forms include joint stools, court cupboards, panelled coffers, wainscot chairs and long refectory tables, often decorated with carved lunettes, arcading, guilloche and stylised foliage, sometimes with inlay of holly or bog oak. The style enjoyed a major revival in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and many pieces described as Jacobean are in fact later reproductions or earlier pieces carved up afterwards. Genuine early pieces are recognised by their construction, wear and deep, naturally developed colour.
