Eastlake Movement

The Eastlake movement was a nineteenth-century architectural and household design reform movement, primarily a North American phenomenon, that in architecture is treated as part of the Queen Anne style within Victorian building. It takes its name from the British architect and writer Charles Eastlake, 1836 to 1906, whose influential book Hints on Household Taste in Furniture, Upholstery, and Other Details originated the movement, which reached particular prominence in the 1870s through the 1890s. Eastlake work favored geometric ornament, spindles, low-relief carving and incised lines that were affordable and easy to maintain, promoting furniture and decoration that showed pride in honest craftsmanship in place of the heavily ornate, dust-collecting styles that preceded it, aimed at a middle-class market that wanted pieces both attractive and practical for everyday use.