Sunday, Nov. 5, 2017 – Sunday, Nov. 5, 2017

01:30 PM – 02:30 PM
US/Central

Presented by Josh Lane, the Lois F. and Henry S. McNeil Curator of Furniture, Winterthur Museum, Delaware

Starting about 1700, English cabinetmakers and chair makers began to experiment with curvilinear designs and Chinese-inspired motifs. By the 1720s, furniture supported on graceful S-curve legs, and chairs with compass seats and ergonomic backs, gained popularity on both sides of the Atlantic. But what is known about the origins of these design elements, now familiar as hallmarks of the “Queen Anne” style?

This lecture explores the emergence of a new Western aesthetic influenced by East Asian designs and coinciding with rising consumer demand for silks, ceramics, tea, lacquerwares, and other East Indian luxury goods. The context of daring Anglo-Chinois architecture and landscape designs forms a backdrop for understanding elegant furniture styles of the early 1700s.

Drop in! This event is free. Seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis. 

About the Speaker
Josh Lane graduated from Amherst College, earned a master’s degree in American Studies from Yale University, and has taught undergraduate courses on American colonial history and material culture. He served as curator of the Stamford Historical Society in Connecticut, and as curator of furniture and curator of academic programs at Historic Deerfield in Massachusetts. At Winterthur, he is working on plans to reinstall a significant holding of craft tools and furniture made, owned, and used by three generations of the Dominy family of Easthampton, Long Island.