Thomas SheratonEnglish furniture designer

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• Thomas Sheraton,  (born 1751, Stockton-on-Tees, Durham, Eng.—died Oct. 22, 1806, Soho, London), English cabinetmaker and one of the leading exponents of Neoclassicism. Sheraton gave his name to a style of furniture characterized by a feminine refinement of late Georgian styles and became the most powerful source of inspiration behind the furniture of the late 18th century. His four-part ‘Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterers’ Drawing Book greatly influenced English and American design.

• Sheraton was apprenticed to a cabinetmaker, but he became better known as an inventor, artist, mystic, and religious controversialist. Initially he wrote on theological subjects, describing himself as a “mechanic, one who never had the advantage of collegiate or academical education.” He settled in London c. 1790, and his trade card gave his address as Wardour Street, Soho, where he “teaches perspective, architecture and ornaments, makes designs for cabinet-makers, sells all kinds of drawing-books.”

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• Sheraton style corresponds closely with French Directoire style, blending in a sort of “assumed” idea of classical styles with straight, clean lines. During the war with France, the need for inexpensive furniture was great, and Sheraton’s designs suited—in turn, introducing his version of Neo-Classical style to the middle class.

• Sheraton, who is closely associated with both George Hepplewhite and Duncan Phyfe, created beautifully streamlined Neo-Classical furniture—most notably the modern sideboard.

• Sheraton was known for his love of secret drawers and mechanisms for sliding sections, and often included them in his secretaries, tables and desks. His desks also featured a raised back tier full of drawers and slots.

Sheraton-style cane-backed armchair.

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Greatly inspired by both the Adam brothers and Louis XVI style, Sheraton furniture featured:

• straight lines and overall delicacy• upholstered seats• back support designs: lattice-work, turning, reeded

columns, racquets, and armchairs a distinctSheraton touch: arms that curved upward to meet the back rail, and elegant scrolls above their supports.

• rectilinear frames• round or straight tapered legs• motifs including: urns with swags, husks, fluting,

festoons, rams’ heads, and the lyre, borrowed from Adam

• contrasting inlay, using tulipwood, sycamore, and rosewood

• “fancy” or painted frames in green, gray, red, black,white, white & gold, or japanned motifs

A Thomas Sheraton cherry desk with a brass gallery along its top drawers.

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Materials used: • Primarily oak, walnut, and mahogany. Solid oak remained a standard throughout the

Georgian period, while mahogany grew in popularity near the end of the period. Solid walnut pieces all but disappeared from Georgian furniture, leaving the solid walnut and mahogany chairs of George II behind in favor of solid oak with thick, mahogany and walnut veneers.

A Thomas Sheraton desk along with its top drawers.

A “fancy” Sheraton-style armchair with a lyre-carved back splat

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erica • Sheraton chairs were incredibly influential during America’s Neo-Classical Federal

Style, much like Hepplewhite’s. Sheraton’s painted chairs weren’t as popular in America, but a mix of Sheraton- and Hepplewhite-style open armchairs would lead to the American “Martha Washington” chair.

A Sheraton-style Neoclassical desk with beautiful rosewood veneers, brass pulls, and a pierced brass trim around the shelf

A Sheraton demilune table.

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