Am I the only one who remembers the episode of Friends where Rachel tries to convince Phoebe her new furniture isn't new and it turns out Rachel can only name two time periods: "colonial" and "yore"?
I don't know what "yore" period furniture would look like (ha ha), but some of the most classic American furniture styles come from the colonial era, when the 13 original colonies were still under British rule.
Thomas Chippendale, George Hepplewhite and Thomas Sheraton are some of the best remembered designers from the colonial period and their work helped inspire Henredon's Oxford Classics collection.
A common feature of colonial-style furniture is what's known as the "cabriole" leg (with that lovely, graceful curve). These dining chairs have cabriole legs, as well as ladder backs (also a traditional colonial style element).
But ladder backs aren't the only way to finish off a great colonial chair. Chippendale-style colonial chairs are known for "pierced back splats," which means intricately carved vertical support pieces in the center of an open-backed chair. You can see the modern versions of a pierced back splat in this lovely dining room picture, that features these dining chairs and this dining table from Henredon's Aston Court collection (also inspired by English designs from the 18th-century). Check out the cabriole leg on the table.
To see some beautiful colonial originals, check out George Washington's dining room (look for those pierced back splats). You can also see some great ladder back chairs in his small dining room.
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