RUSTIC STYLE

in decorative arts, any peasant or rural decorative inclination; more precisely, a type of furniture made of wood or metal, the main components of which are carved and fretted to resemble the branches of trees. Stemming from the popularization of nature and the simple life that occurred in the mid-18th century, the vogue for this kind of product persisted well into the 20th century. It was especially popular in Switzerland, Germany, and Austria, where it was produced in large quantities. It naturally endeared itself to the British Victorians, with their passion for the picturesque, and was also generally admired in the United States. Inevitably, it commended itself as a style to manufacture that relied on casting methods of production; thus, chairs and tables in cast-iron rustic style proliferated in the late 19th century, and the style was applied even to terra-cotta garden seats. Rustic-style pottery and tableware (with twigs taking the place of branches) were designed to match the furniture. An analogous and even more eccentric decorative fashion that flourished for some years was the use of the horns of stags, deer, cattle, and other animals to create the main supports of chairs and tables.