THE FOUR AGES OF FURNITURE: A walk in the Oak, Walnut, Mahogany and Satinwood forests with Ben Hodgetts

In 1904 designer and furniture collector Percy Macquoid grouped English furniture into four distinct categories.  His four volume study A History of English Furniture created the ages of Oak, Walnut, Mahogany and Satinwood. 

These convenient periods have been used ever since.  Why did these woods emerge as a handy classification system instead of the reigns of the monarchs?  Why do we still refer to them when it is easier to identify designers and makers? 

Do these Ages still work today?  Based on his knowledge of The Johnston Collection, Hodgett’s will help us discover why these terms still matter.

Conservator Benjamin Hodgetts trained at the London College of Furniture (now the Guildhall University).  For over 25 years, he has undertaken numerous commissions to sympathetically restore furniture, both in the United Kingdom and in Australia, for government, museums, other public institutions and private clients.