COTTAGE FURNITURE

mass-produced type of furniture popular in the United States in the mid-19th century. In The Architecture of Country Houses (1850), A.J. Downing recommended it for use in rural surroundings and favoured in particular the work of Edward Hennessy of Boston. He pointed out that a complete bedroom suite in this style could be purchased for the price of a mahogany wardrobe. Cottage furniture was usually of softwood painted white, gray, lilac, or pale blue and sometimes decorated with floral motifs. Turned legs (i.e., legs shaped on a lathe) and other features of 17th-century turned furniture were included, and split spindles were applied to cabinet pieces (turned furniture of this type was also named after the Swedish singer Jenny Lind).