Federal Style

A E S T H E T I C S

Historical Context• George Washington was President when Americans first tweaked

European house styles to create something distinctly their own.

• The period just after the Revolutionary War (1780–1820) was a time to project hard-won dignity, not show off.

Historical ContextWhen American Founding Fathers began outlining our government they looked back towards

the ancient democracies of Greece and Rome.

After gaining Independence from England in 1776, political pride spilled over into architecture and into interiors as well.

It was known as Federal style which was popular from about 1780 until 1820.

This Neo-Classically based style had already become very popular in England where it was known as Georgian style in honor of the British monarchs.

The name was changed in the states to be more politically correct.

Federal Style features;• muted wall colors,

• minimal trim work painted white,

• and delicately carved or inlaid decoration.

Federal Style features;The only exceptions to the understated approach were the bold patriotic symbols—fighting eagles, chair backs shaped like shields, trophy-like urns, and other celebrations of military pride.

Analysis of Federal era interior paints• bright yellows,

• blues

• and rich dark olive glazes, & many others,

• frequently varnished to a high gloss with copal varnish which was called "bright and shining colors" at the time.

Pennsylvania “style”• elaborate wall colors on wainscoting contrasting with door trim and

doors

• sometimes with panels contrasting with the stiles and rails

Wainscoting - wooden paneling that lines the lower part of the walls of a room.

Pennsylvania “style”

The style of houses and furnishings created during this period was heavily influenced by the Neoclassical designs favored in

Great Britain since the 1760s, which stemmed from a renewed interest in classical Greece and Rome.

They suggest the varied regional interpretation of the Neoclassical style in America and are furnished with a broad range of decorative arts, from woven carpets to cut-glass chandeliers to porcelain vases, that wealthy

householders of the period would have purchased to suggest their awareness of the current vogue for ornament borrowed from antiquity.

A diagram of details for Derby House in Grosvenor Square in London by Robert Adam.

Robert Adam's work had influenced the direction of architecture across the western world. In North America, the Federal style owes much to Neo-Classicism as practiced by Adam.

In Europe, Adam notably influenced Charles Cameron, the Scotsman who designed Tsarskoye Selo and other Russian palaces for Catherine the Great.

CharacteristicsMore gracious and cosmopolitan than any American interior, Federal rooms exude the confidence that came with independence and a sense of national pride.

They are more sophisticated, though also somewhat more formal, than Colonial interiors, with symmetrical plans and straight-lined furniture completely erasing any remnants of Rococo.

Characteristics• Smooth plaster walls are painted white or perhaps in warm tones of

blue, green, or mustard—subdued in public rooms, much brighter in private ones

• There are white moldings, classically detailed, perhaps with plaster ornament like swags, garlands, and rosettes, sometimes accented in bright colors

• The dining room or parlor might have wallpaper with patriotic motifs, or elegant scenic, imported from France.

Swag - a curtain or piece of fabric fastened so as to hang in a drooping curve.

Federal Interiors

Federal Style Furniture• Federal furniture is distinguished for its geometric forms,

• slim lines,

• and smooth expanses of mahogany or lighter-tone woods, often accented with contrasting banding and inlays.

Federal Style Hall Table

Resident Evil 1 (directors cut)

Federal Style Chairs

FEDERAL STYLE SHERATON SOFA

Great Carved Mahogany Federal Style Sofa

Federal Style McIntyre Cabinet

Cupboarda cabinet or closet, usually with a door and shelves, used for storage.

Federal Style Dresser

Federal Style “Salon” (a reception room in a large house)

a regular social gathering of eminent people

(especially writers and artists) at the house of a woman prominent in high

society.

Federal Style Drop-leaf Dining Table

A Federal-style Pembroke table by Kittinger Furniture Company for Colonial Williamsburg

Federal Style Dining Table

Federal Style Entry Door jamb

Federal Style Grandfather ClockA long-case clock, also tall-case clock, floor clock, or grandfather clock, is a tall, freestanding, weight-driven pendulum clock with the pendulum held inside the tower, or waist of the case.

Most of a long-case clock's height is used to hold the long pendulum and weights. The two chains attached to the weights and the lack of winding holes in the dial show this to be a 30-hour clock.

ASSIGNMENT # 2• To be passed JULY 4, 2016

• Draw any Federal Style Interior Room in 8.5x11” Stratmore Paper and Water Color

• Frame it with “Federal Style Frame”

• Pass it