The Victorian Era was an age of revivals. Of the seven different revival styles of furniture that proliferated from the 1860s to the 1880s, the Renaissance Revival style, in use from 1855 to 1875, was one of the most popular. Renaissance Revival was an architectural style that easily made the transition from the custom, one-of-a-kind furniture shops in New York and Philadelphia to the mass-production factories of the Midwest.

The Renaissance was a European period of history and cultural movement taking place at the end of the Late Middle Ages and the beginning of the early modern era. It is variously defined as lasting from the 14th century to the 17th or, more narrowly, as covering only the 15th and 16th centuries. It was characterized by the European rediscovery and revival of the literary, philosophical, and artistic achievements of classical antiquity. Associated with great change in art, architecture, politics, literature, exploration and technology, the Renaissance was first centered in the Republic of Florence, then spread to the rest of Italy and later throughout Europe.

This significant cultural rebirth in Europe, emphasizing humanism and the arts, influenced designers and architects to revive the grandeur of early styles, well into the 19th century.

Introduced in the early 1850's as a counter balance to the flowery Rococo Revival, Renaissance Revival borrowed elements from just about every furniture period since the 1400's. Originating in the French court of Napoleon III, the style soon took on a life of its own.

Furniture makers built pieces that consisted of an eclectic mix of 14th-century Renaissance, Neoclassical and 16th-century French derivation, based on a rectangular form with various embellishments.

While pieces of this style of furniture came in a myriad of shapes and sizes, they generally featured turned and fluted legs, raised or inset burled panels, heavily carved finials and crests, inset marble tops, and cookie-cut corners. On many mass-produced pieces, manufacturers added black and gold incising dn banding, and on finer, one-of-a-kind models, marquetry inlay and bronze or brass mounts. Most pieces of Renaissance Revival furniture were very large—ideal for the Victorian "more is more" philosophy. Makers of finer pieces preferred to use walnut, as it had been in the 16th century. And that was the most accurate thing about this revival style, which also borrowed heavily from the 17th-century Baroque and the earlier Gothic periods.

Prominent Renaissance and Neoclassical motifs such as columns, pediments, cartouches, rosettes, and carved masks, as well as plaques in porcelain, bronze, and mother-of-pearl became common types of decoration. Factory pieces had turned or cutout parts while finer examples featured carving or elaborate inlay of ebony and other exotic woods.

Before 1870 nearly all fine Renaissance Revival furniture came from small cabinetmaker shops in the East that made pieces to order. As the style gained popularity, furniture factories in the Midwest figured out how to mass produce the style for the Middle Class market. While some still used walnut, many chose to use cheaper ash or pine, painting it to look more high-style. The Renaissance Revival styles of the 1860s and 1870s marked the first time furniture makers used fine designs for mass-produced furnishings.

Large Midwestern factories, centered primarily in Grand Rapids, Michigan, manufactured pieces with turned and cut elements that could be produced more readily in volume and at lower cost. A few of the larger companies in Grand Rapids had committed to using the latest technology by the 1870's, among them Berkey & Gay, Nelson Matter and Phoenix. Renaissance Revival became the style of the Centennial Exposition and Grand Rapids was the star, but by that time it was already on its way out. The overpowering bedroom sets presented by Berkey & Gay cemented the reputation of the Grand Rapids factories as the manufacturers of bedroom sets or "chamber suites" as they became known.

New York cabinetmakers, such as Herter Brothers, on the other hand, produced pieces with elegant detail and elaborate inlays. They interpreted 16th- and 17th-century designs. And their motifs ranged from curvilinear and florid early in the period to angular and almost severe by the end of the period. Walnut veneer panels were a real favorite in their 1870s designs. Upholstery, usually of a more generous nature, was also often incorporated into this design style. Ornamentation and high relief carving included flowers, fruits, game, classical busts, acanthus scrolls, strapwork, tassels and masks. Architectural motifs, such as pilasters, columns, pediments, balusters and brackets, were another prominent design feature. Makers usually employed cabriole or substantially turned legs on their pieces.

Several types of furniture were particularly popular in the Renaissance Revival style. Furniture makers elaborately decorated the cassone, or marriage chest, with carvings and paintings. They also produced the sgabello, a type of chair with a small wooden seat, supported by ornately shaped boards.

Tables were mostly rectangular, supported by carved consoles or figures, sometimes with marble tops. And chests, commonly used for storage, came in various shapes and often had rich ornamentation.

Renaissance Revival furniture not only reflected the aesthetics of the original Renaissance but also adapted to the tastes and needs of 19th-century society, making it significantly important.

Pieces include intricate carvings, elaborate ornamentation, and classical motifs, often made from high-quality woods like walnut and oak. The style emphasized grandeur, symmetry, and historical references, reflecting the Victorian era's fascination with earlier European designs.

Originally, Renaissance furniture, dating to between 1400 and 1550, featured simpler designs with a focus on architectural forms. Renaissance Revival furniture, on the other hand, sought to interpret the earlier 15th-century styles while reflecting Victorian tastes.

The end came to Renaissance Revival furniture when people began to desire a return to simplicity, the antithesis of Renaissance Revival, which embodied itself in the Arts and Crafts movement of the late 19th and early 20th century and the resurgence of interest in American heritage seen in the long running Colonial Revival style.

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