Real Oak Furniture

Investing in furniture made of oak is more than just an appreciation of quality: it means becoming part of a tradition which has its roots in the earliest recorded history of the British Isles. This website summarises this huge and fascinating topic and offers advice on the choices of oak furniture available today.

Characteristics of Oak

The Common Oak (Quercus Robur) is a slow growing hardwood tree that is most suited to damp, fertile soils. These are found in many parts of the UK. Its distinctive leaf shape and acorns make it one of the most easily recognised trees in the British Isles. The oak (Quercus) family is a large and diverse one however, and different species of oak can be found in America, Europe, Asia and the Far East.

The typical characteristics of oak are its toughness and durability. This made it indispensable for almost all types of construction, from wagons, to ships to the main structural elements of buildings. In addition to its toughness and utility, oak also has an attractive grain pattern, particularly when the timber is sawn to show off the silver flecks caused by the medulary rays in the growing tree. These attributes make it particularly attractive for use in furniture making.

For more information about trees of the British Countryside follow this link to the Woodlands Trust at www.british-trees.com

Early oak furniture
The earliest reports of oak furniture used in Britain date from around the Norman Conquest and the end of the Dark Ages. These describe massive tables of simple, rough construction, settles (high backed bench seats) and simple benches.

Such furniture would typically have only been the property of the upper classes and any chairs that existed were exclusively the preserve of society’s leaders. Indeed, this association of furniture with the leaders of society began a precedent which survives today in English phrases such as chairman, coming before the bench (of magistrates) and being a member of the board (those privileged to sit around the table or board rather than squatting in the shadows).

It is interesting to note that sitting at a table to eat, rather than on the floor, was an invention of the Roman occupying forces and was probably viewed by the native population as something to which they should aspire. Hence the importance of the table in post-Roman Britain – even giving birth to the round tables of Celtic chieftains, subsequently personified in the King Arthur legends.

During the next 500 years or so, oak furniture developed in both variety and sophistication in Britain. Simple wooden boxes or chests were constructed to store various items of value including weapons, money and linen. The addition of a simple drawer to the base of the chest gave rise to the mule chest, which became the forerunner of today’s chest of drawers, while standing the chest upright lead to the development of the wardrobe and in France the armoire – originally an armoury for holding weapons.

Finishing and carving of pieces developed and there are many fine examples of carved Tudor oak furniture to be seen in museums and private collections around the country.

For more information about buildings and furniture of the period, try English Heritage at www.english-heritage.org.uk or the National Museum of Wales’ open air museum at St Fagans near Cardiff on www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/stfagans

The Restoration of the Monarchy
The restoration of the monarchy in 1660 had significant consequences for the kind of heavy oak furniture that had developed in Britain to this point. Charles II and his court had been living in Europe where they acquired a taste for the much lighter style of Continental furniture. Whereas traditional English furniture had been made of heavy oak held together by joints fastened with wooden pegs, the new furniture used glue to fasten its joints and was decorated with veneers of walnut and other unusual woods.

Six years into his reign the Great Fire of London gave an added impetus to this change of style. Rich Londoners whose property had been lost in the fire commissioned replacement furniture in the new Continental style. As it happened, many of the cabinet makers commissioned to make replacement pieces were immigrants who had escaped religious persecution on the Continent. Consequently they were already familiar with this latest fashion.

The Georgian and Regency periods
If oak’s virtual monopoly on British furniture had been dented by the change in style following the Restoration, the arrival of the Georgian period and famous furniture makers such as Thomas Chippendale threatened to relegate it to the history books. Tropical hardwoods, particularly mahogany, became the furniture timber of choice for the most fashionable in society. Oak was still used for lesser furniture and cabinet work but its pre-eminence was gone, lost amidst the sea of russet, titian and cherry hues that established a lasting popularity.

Several relevant places of interest are in the ownership or care of the National Trust, whose website can be found here www.nationaltrust.org.uk

The Victorian period and Church furniture
The phenomenal success of Britain during the reign of Victoria created the largest empire the world has ever seen. One of the effects of this was that people began to wonder how this had been achieved and looked to their history for answers. This in turn led to a huge revival of interest in Britain’s history and spawned the gothic revival style. Part of this was a renewed interest in heavy, solid oak furniture carved in a medieval fashion.

Another feature of the period was an increased concern for the welfare, both physical and moral, of the general population. One way this found expression was a massive expansion in the building of new churches and chapels throughout the country and in the restoration and refurbishment of existing places of worship.

The timber of choice for the vast quantities of church furniture being built was, once again, oak. Today many fine examples of the skills of the Victorian furniture maker and wood carver can be seen and enjoyed in churches and chapels around the country.

A group dedicated to the preservation of Victorian buildings and interested in this period is the Victorian Society, which can be found at www.victorian-society.org.uk Those interested in buying antique furniture from the Victorian and Georgian periods can follow the sales of their local auction houses or the large auction houses such as Christies or Sotheby’s. There are also a number of antiques dealers with very good websites, such as Richard Gardner at www.richardgardnerantiques.co.uk and Driscolls at www.driscollsantiques.co.uk

Contemporary oak furniture
The carnage of the First World War decimated Britain’s woodlands. Oak stocks were particularly badly affected as the timber was used for building and shoring up the trenches scarring the landscape of France. This in turn led to the foundation in 1919 of the Forestry Commission, charged with safeguarding Britain’s strategic timber reserves. The Commission’s website can be found at www.forestry.gov.uk

Oak furniture of the inter war years tended to be lighter in weight, dark in colour (thanks to an abiding affection for the Tudor/medieval period) and minimalist in style.

The further depredations of the Second World War (when manufacturing wooden furniture was, for a brief period, illegal) meant that stocks of every kind of material were in short supply in post-war Britain. The conifer woodlands of Scandinavia made up the shortfall in timber and for some 30 years, pine furniture and Scandinavian-influenced design, were pre-eminent in the British furniture market.

Since the 1980s however, the almost innate love of the British for oak furniture, has seen a return to popularity of such pieces. There are a number of cabinet makers around the country producing hand made oak furniture in a wide range of styles, including the Queen’s nephew, Viscount Linley (whose furniture website is at www.davidlinley.com ). The offerings from these cabinet makers range from faithful reproductions of past designs to the most avant-garde items styled to bring out the natural style and beauty of the wood. Some of this furniture is beautiful but much of it is beyond what many people can afford.

Of much wider appeal are the commercially available ranges of furniture made of oak from various parts of the world and usually assembled overseas for import in the UK. As with all products there are variations in quality of design and construction, but there is no doubt that there is a bewildering choice of styles and finishes.

Colours can range from a light golden oak through mellow fawns to deep rich brown. Styles may be traditional, distressed rustic, ‘retro’ or follow the simple styling and clean lines that characterise modern designs. A typical example of an online retailer supplying contemporary oak furniture throughout the UK is Right Price Furniture, whose website can be found at www.rightpricefurniture.co.uk