Like France’s Empire style, Regency-style furniture was rooted in neoclassicism; the characteristics of its bedroom furniture, armchairs, dining room tables and other items include clean lines, angular shapes and elegant details.
Dating roughly from the 1790s to 1830s, antique Regency-style furniture gets its name from Prince George of Wales — formally King George IV — who became Prince Regent in 1811 after his father, George III, was declared unfit to rule. England’s Regency style is one of the styles represented in Georgian furniture.
George IV’s arts patronage significantly influenced the development of the Regency style, such as the architectural projects under John Nash, which included the renovation of Buckingham House into the formidable Buckingham Palace with a grand neoclassical facade. Celebrated designers of the period include Thomas Sheraton, Henry Holland and Thomas Hope. Like Nash, Hope instilled his work with classical influences, such as saber-legged chairs based on the ancient Greek klismos. He is credited with introducing the term “interior decoration” to English with the 1807 publishing of Household Furniture and Interior Decoration.
Although more subdued than previous styles like Rococo and Baroque, Regency interiors incorporated copious use of chintz fabrics and wallpaper adorned in chinoiserie-style art. Its furniture featured fine materials and luxurious embellishments. Furniture maker George Bullock, for instance, regularly used detailed wood marquetry and metal ornaments on his pieces.
Archaeological discoveries in Egypt and Greece informed Regency-era details, such as carved scrollwork, sphinxes and palmettes, as well as the shape of furniture. A Roman marble cinerary chest, for example, would be reinterpreted into a wooden cabinet. The Napoleonic Wars also inspired furniture, with martial designs like tented beds and camp-style chairs becoming popular. While the reddish-brown mahogany was prominent in this range of pieces, imported woods like zebrawood and ebony were increasingly in demand.
Find a collection of antique Regency tables, seating, decorative objects and other furniture on 1stDibs.
Brampton Rare Salt Glazed Stoneware Character Modelled Container
Located in Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire
A charming unusual and very rare antique English Brampton salt glazed container modelled as gentleman wearing a coat dating from around 1830. The stoneware container is a half-length...
Stoneware
Rare Pair of Victorian Staffordshire Ceramic Recumbent Giraffe Figures
Located in Bridgeport, CT
Each with one leg bent, and nicely colored with dotted fur details slightly different from each other, circa 1860. Green double palm trees with red fruit form the supports at the bac...
Ceramic
Pearlware Bear Jug and Cover, English, Early 19th Century
Located in Spencertown, NY
Napoleonic Bear Baiting Jug and Cover, Probably Scottish,
Ceramic
$900
H 7.29 in W 9.06 in D 4.73 in
Early 19th Century English Demilune Lusterware Bough Pot With Cover
By Hackwood & Co.
Located in Roma, RM
This demilune flower pot or bough pot for forcing springtime bulbs, is adorned with three landscape panels. Each panel, painted in pink lustre, depicts the same cottage in a pastoral setting from three different vantage points. Moulded into the top and bottom rims are acanthus leaves. Pieces in this shape, color and style have been attributed to the Hackwood company, and usually pieces like these, are not marked. William Hackwood & Son was an earthenware factory in Shelton, England, from 1818 until 1853. In addition to lustre ware...
Ceramic, Faience, Luster
$1,000
H 5.25 in W 8 in D 5.25 in
Ceramic Terracotta Sculpture Reclining Nude Figure in the Manner of Henry Moore
By Henry Moore
Located in Oklahoma City, OK
Contemporary figural unglazed terracotta sculpture of an abstract reclining figure. An homage to sculptor Henry Moore. Made in 2019 by Oklahoma artist Emily Ladow Reynolds. Dimen...
Ceramic, Clay, Terracotta
$220Sale Price / set|20% Off
H 5.75 in W 5 in D 3 in
Pair of Mid Century 1950s Howard Pierce Ceramic Quail Bird Sculpture Figurine
Located in San Diego, CA
Iconic pair of Howard Pierce ceramic quail bird figurines/sculptures dating from the 1950s. These are an iconic design. Great color and form. The larger ...
Ceramic
19th Century Decorated Bird Stoneware Jug
Located in Los Angeles, CA
19th century decorated stoneware jug with a bird on the face. This is a New York State jug. The condition is very good.
Pottery
$2,600
H 8.67 in W 7.09 in D 9.65 in
Mexican Ceramic Corn Skull Sculpture Hand Crafted Folk Art Day of the Dead
Located in Queretaro, Queretaro
“My purpose in making this skull is to represent the different types of native maize that since remote times have brought food security to our ancestors, giving them the time to develop the knowledge and arts to the extent they did,” says Mexican ceramist Omar Hernández...
Ceramic, Clay
Teotihuacan Ceramic Head Fragment
Located in Chicago, IL
This intriguing head fragment was once attached to a bust or full effigy figurine crafted in 400 A.D. Mesoamerica. Earthenware figurines were made in great abundance throughout Teotihuacan's history. After 250 A.D. objects made from clay increased dramatically in Teotihuacan, serving a wide variety of purposes and functions from religious rituals to burial offerings. Figurines like this commemorated important people and events within the city of Teotihuacan and other parts of Mesoamerica, portraying individuals of different rank and status such as soldiers, merchants, bureaucrats, and occasionally divinities. This figure is adorned with an elaborate headdress, a thick beaded necklace...
Ceramic
Studio Ceramic Stoneware Vase
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A distinctive studio ceramic vase has a tall narrow shape, brown, with an outer glossy glaze and speckled white detailing. The cylindrical form contains an unglazed area at the neck ...
Ceramic, Clay, Pottery, Stoneware
California Design Studio Stoneware Weed Pot / Vase Signed
Located in San Diego, CA
California design studio stoneware weed pot / vase, circa 1970s. The pot is in very good vintage condition and measures 7.7"D x 6.5"H. The piece is signed on the underside. #3805
Pottery, Stoneware
$468Sale Price|40% Off
H 7.37 in Dm 4.53 in
Handpainted 19th Century Grand Tour Museum Copy of a Greek Geometric Amphora Jug
Located in Bad Säckingen, DE
This exquisite 19th-century hand-painted ceramic amphora is a finely crafted Grand Tour museum replica of an ancient Greek Geometric-style vessel, circa 800 BCE. The amphora features...
Clay, Terracotta
$680Sale Price|20% Off
H 6.75 in Dm 4.5 in
California Design Stoneware Weed Pot / Vase by Wayne Chapman
By Wayne Chapman
Located in San Diego, CA
An absolutely stunning California design stoneware weed pot / vase by noted San Diego, CA potter Wayne Chapman, circa 1970. The pot is in very good vinta...
Pottery, Stoneware
$2,200
H 6.7 in W 5.91 in D 9.06 in
Mexican Ceramic Skull Sculpture Handcrafted Folk Art Day of the Dead
Located in Queretaro, Queretaro
The word tzompantli or tzompantle comes from the Náhuatl (Aztec) language and means skull rack or scaffold of skulls. In different Mesoamerican cultures, skulls from the sacrificed w...
Ceramic, Clay
Pre-Columbian Ceramic Head Fragment
Located in Chicago, IL
This intriguing head fragment was once attached to a pre-Columbian bust or full effigy figurine. Earthenware figurines like this were made in great abundance throughout Mesoamerican history, serving a wide variety of purposes and functions from religious rituals to burial offerings. Figurines like this commemorated important people and events across Mesoamerica, portraying individuals of different rank and status such as soldiers, merchants, bureaucrats, and occasionally divinities. This figure is adorned with an elaborate headdress, or coiffure, and ear spools...
Ceramic
Porcelain Horse Stirrup Cup after Stubbs.
Located in Downingtown, PA
A charming English stirrup cup in the form of a horse head. This is a form that I personally have never seen before. The George Stubbs painting...
Trout Head Porcelain Stirrup Cup, The Angler's Delight
By Royal Crown Derby Porcelain
Located in Katonah, NY
A rare antique English porcelain trout head stirrup cup made by Derby circa 1810. "The Anglers Delight" is written in gilt script around the rim. The realism of this stirrup cup is...
Porcelain
Sold
H 12.25 in W 16.75 in D 5 in
Staffordshire Pearlware Deer and Doe Large Deer Park Spill Vase Group
Located in Downingtown, PA
This remarkable and rare Staffordshire pearlware large group is particularly rare with the stag and doe being removable being placed into insets on the oval base. The group depicts two large figures of a stag and doe facing each other either side of the central tree trunk spill vase with a small lamb below. The removable stag: 8 inches high x 5 3/4 inches wide x 3 inches deep. Removable doe: 6 1/2 inches high x 5 1/2 inches x 3 inches deep. Provenance: Alistair Samson, London (Old sales label where it is called Walton). Reference: People, Passions, Pastimes and Pleasures: Staffordshire Figures 1810-1835, Myrna Schkolne, Page 211, for a similar group from the collection of the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, UK. Holding the Past, The William Herbert and Nancy Hunt Collection...
Pearlware, Pottery