Jacobean Style

Jacobean Style, an English art, architectural and furniture style, dominant during the reign (1603-1625) of King James I.

The principal monuments of the style are the large country houses built for the nobility, such as Hatfield (1612), Audley End (1603), and Bramshill (1612). The style is an outgrowth of the earlier Elizabethan style, with its large mullioned windows and heavy external and internal decoration; the Jacobean building, however, was usually constructed of brick rather than of stone, and gables tended to take the place of flat cornices. Interiors usually featured an ornate, carved wooden staircase rising in flights around a rectangular open well; extravagant plaster decoration ornamented the ceilings and walls of the rooms. Furniture was somewhat lighter and smaller than Elizabethan furniture and not so deeply carved. The gateleg table, which later became an extremely popular piece of furniture, was first made during this period. See also Architecture; Furniture.