Objects can be read the same as buildings can (as I explained in the ‘how to read a building’ blog), all you have to know is the characteristics and ideas of a certain time period/movement/style.
I looked for different objects (tables, chairs, mirrors etc) that were from, or took inspiration from these styles (Some of them have no pictures, but I will upload when I find good examples).
Key characteristics of styles:
CLASSIC
Memorial, Weston Park
GOTHIC
Bold, religious influences.
BAROQUE
Decorative, power.
Picture frame, Graves gallery exhibition
ROCOCO
Extravagant, theatrical.
Mirror, Sheaf Island/Weatherspoons
NEOCLASSICAL
Back to power, more based on reason and science, authority.
VICTORIAN
Influences from different styles, still getting across authority, industrial revolution.
Victorian era chair
There is the classic Victorian style that everyone think of, but the Wassily chair (below) is also from the similar era, but it looks so ahead of it’s time.
Wassily chair
ART NOUVEAU
Elaborate, all about natural aesthetic (plants,bone etc), growth.
ART DECO
Bold, machine aesthetic, geometric shapes, sometimes Egyptian influence
A necklace
MODERNISM
Modern, clean, harsh lines/edges
POST MODERNISM
Futuristic, inventive, variation.
Jake Palmer-Blake 