Queen Anne & Corner Feet
Who would have thought that a mistake in identifying the proper origin of a single table leg would result in arguably the best known furniture style of the world today—the Queen Anne? You see, it was really the Chinese who inspired the cabriole legs and the Devonshire legs. Although mistakenly attributed to England's Queen Anne period, the nomenclature remains today.
By carefully researching the history of the 'Queen Anne cabriole legs', we find that it most resembles the William and Mary styling of the late 1800's. Thanks go in great part to William Thackeray's novel 'The History of Henry Esmond, Esq., A Colonel in the Service of Her Majesty Queen Anne'. Thackeray alluded to the Queen Anne style of architecture, but failed to give many particulars.
Thus, readers and craftsmen devised their individual interpretations and labeled these different styles as Queen Anne style, Queen Anne furniture, or Queen Anne legs. So was born the many variations of the Queen Anne styling appearing today.
Although quite a misnomer, the Queen Anne leg has certainly taken its place in the world of beauty and design, even if it does have a bit of an identity crisis. Check out the variety of wooden furniture legs offered at Osborne Wood Products.