Bridge For Design Autumn 2014 Bridge For Design Autumn 2014 Issue | Page 266

design trends |

THE GEORGIAN REVIVAL
It was the most beautiful period in our history says Jonathan Sainsbury

A

s a period furniture expert and
lover of the English country house,
it pleases me no end to see a resurgence
in demand for opulent, elegant yet
comfortable furniture from those
centuries when furniture was bold and
beautiful.
designs, particularly those of Thomas
Chippendale, George Hepplewhite, Thomas Sheridan and
William Kent, could hardly ever have been said to be out of
properties to their respective age and style.
Every day we are increasingly being asked to help with the
restoration, reinstating and furnishing of country houses to
their former glory in the UK and throughout the world. Our
clients, who tend to be Americans (who were familiar with
Georgian furniture long before Independence) and Russians
as well as British, usually have a love of English furniture
and the English way of life and want their interiors designed,
decorated and furnished to suit the style of the property.

wonderful country houses to furnish would be hard pushed
come to the market and when they do they are often well
Not everyone with a wonderful Georgian property has a
bank balance to match. Over the centuries most original
pieces have either been held in family trusts, have been

equal to those great makers of the past. We are also able to
produce bespoke pieces of outstanding quality, carved by
craftsmen not machines, gilded, polished or painted exactly
as our ancestors preferred.
style houses which look as if they have come straight out
of a Jane Austen novel, are very popular. They have all
the advantages of a Georgian property with the additional

quality, proportion and harmony to which people respond
considered one of quality and taste and in my view is the
most beautiful period in the history of architecture and
furnishings.
A Georgian house full of sofas, occasional tables and
The gilding of classical pieces such as side tables, pier tables
and mirrors remains popular. We are being asked more
often for an aged country house look rather than the highly
burnished gold. This makes the pieces more harmonious
to their environment and less dominant in their space. In
other words proportional, which is the essence of Georgian
architecture.
English country house is a challenge which Jonathan
Sainsbury and his decorator clients aim to constantly
achieve.

appreciate what they had.
Jonathan Sainsbury

able to adopt and adapt Georgian furniture to a standard

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Bridge for Design Autumn 2014

For more information about Jonathan Sainsbury, CLICK HERE