Victorian Cabriole Chairs

History of the Cabriole Chair Leg

• While the cabriole chair leg became enormously popular in Victorian England, furniture historians trace the roots of this leg silhouette back to the Chinese and Greek civilizations. Even early artisans realized that by carving furniture appendages with two curves (one convex and one concave), there were enormous structural and aesthetic benefits, so the S-curve silhouette became extremely popular even before it was officially identified by the name cabriole.

The Cabriole Leg Silhouette

• Cabriole legs are easily recognized by "pad foot" embellishments at the chair's bottom and an S-curve design, so whether they're attached to Queen Anne chairs, Louis IX chairs or Chippendale settees, there is no mistaking the unique leg style. Balance is artfully achieved thanks to each leg's out-curved leg knee and in-curved ankle. The finest cabriole legs are handcrafted by woodcarvers who let their imaginations guide their hands; it takes time and talent to carve complex animal paws, scrolls, balls and other foot-like shapes fastened to legs where chair meets floor.

Early Victorian Cabriole Chairs

• Furniture in vogue from the years 1830 to 1850 was an eclectic mix of Neoclassical, Regency, French Restoration, Rococo and Gothic Revival. All of these chair and table styles were compatible with the elaborate cabriole leg, coordinating signature S-curve styling and claw foot embellishments with au courant fabric and seat designs. Drawings rendered during the early Victorian era show balloon-back chairs with tufted velvet cushioning and asymmetrical chaise lounges supported by thick, ornate cabriole legs.

Mid-Victorian Cabriole Chairs

• When England hosted the 1851 Great Exhibit at London's Crystal Palace, the nation's furniture crafters' industry was on prominent display. Attendees found a mix of old and new on exhibit, running the gamut from mass-produced to handmade chairs. The improvement of lathing tools made it possible for furniture makers to churn out cheap cabriole legs for just-as-cheap chairs. Fortunately, England's upper class continued to demand handcrafted chairs and settees in myriad Revival styles, and so the most elegant parlor furnishings of the era featured brocade and velvet seats atop cabriole legs that were even more elaborate than their predecessors.

Late Victorian Cabriole Chairs

• The Arts and Crafts Movement, led by innovators such as Mackintosh and Voysey, tried to obliterate fussy, elaborate furnishings at the turn of the century and, by 1910, it was making inroads. The nation's collective taste for Revival-style furnishings in the Edwardian, Sheraton and Rococo styles was ebbing in favor of utilitarian furnishing designs. That stated, cabriole legs did not disappear, but technological advances stripped the leg style of its heart; automatic lathe advances drove a final nail into the coffin of the elaborate cabriole chair leg now that machines churned them out in cookie-cutter style.