How to Identify a Victorian Open Bookcase

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(Above photo - Victorian Open Bookcase Antique Walnut 1850 )

During the Victorian period (1830 to 1890), designers produced many furniture pieces, including bookcases. Due to Queen Victoria's love for ornate decorations, this period saw the revival of furniture styles from the past, including Neoclassic, Elizabethan, Tudor, Rococo, and Gothic styles. Thus, Victorian bookcases tended to have a mix of features from all the techniques used to make them. This article discusses how to identify a Victorian open bookcase when you see one. Keep reading for more information:

1. Woods

(Above photo - Victorian Open Bookcase Antique Walnut 1890 )

Like any other furniture from the Victorian period, bookcases featured certain types of wood and materials. The most commonly used materials were rosewood, mahogany, walnut, and oak. If you find a bookcase in any of these materials, it is more likely to be from that period. Later on, replicas made from stained cherry emerged. The purpose of staining cherry was to give them a deep-brown look of the Victorian period. Sometimes, the top of the bookcase has marble on it.

2. Proportions

(Above photo - Pair Walnut Victorian Bookcases Open Book Case )

By seeking to revive furniture styles from the past, designers in the Victorian period sought to give their pieces large proportions. In general, the design was meant to provide character and balance to the decorations within a room. The typical Victorian open bookcase's imposing nature was enough to put it at the centre of a room's interior décor. Furniture makers seemed to have taken to the popular Victorian sentiment, which suggested that "more is more." Therefore, they made pieces of furniture with graceful, carefully-carved details, sinewy lines, and more romantic influences. However, the easily noticeable feature was the furniture piece's stately proportions.

3. Decorative Details

During the Victorian period, furniture makers used various decorations, including spiral (barley-twist or spiral-twist) legs on most furniture pieces, including bookcases. However, some bookcases had turnip feet. Although Victorian open bookcases were mostly plain, some featured curved lines, natural floral patterns, and intricate carvings. They had angular lines and shapes, which worked together with the carvings. Furthermore, some bookcases have decorative friezes and curved moldings.

Some Victorian bookcases had wood with carvings running along their edges. These carvings were shapely ribbons, fleur-de-leis, fruits, trailing vines, fat cherubs, and shapely leaves. Depending on the furniture maker, the wood was either dark and finished, painted, or gilded.

How to Decorate with Victorian Open Bookcases

(Above photo - Victorian Open Front Bookcase Mahogany 1870 )

Victorian open bookcases are great when it comes to decorating your home's interior. You can use it to hold accessories such as photos, sculptures, potted plants, and pieces of art. If you have acquired some souvenirs, why don't you display them on the open bookcase? Or, you could use it for its primary function as a bookcase. You can put it in the living room or home office to display, hold and display your favorite books. Besides, you can turn it into a layered bookshelf with a variety of items stored on it. Finally, an open bookcase can be the perfect storage space for different things within your home.

If you are looking for a Victorian open bookcase to purchase, we have various furniture pieces in our store. Visit us online or in-store to view them for yourself.