During his lifetime, Charles Darwin may well have had tartan curtains in his library, swags and tails on the bay windows in his drawing room and fringed, floral curtains on his four poster bed! The Victorians had a thing for reviving fashions of the past and the 19th century saw a whole host of trends and styles. Colours were very strong and included cherry red, saffron yellow and gold. Curtain poles became a feature in their own right and were often moulded and gilded with ornate finials in the shape of animal heads, laurel wreaths and rosettes. Outer curtains were pinned back in deep scoops to display under-curtains in a light silk or muslin. And the palette of colours was wilder than ever before - deep turquoise, daffodil yellow and crushed raspberry being particularly popular.Īt the time when Jane Austen was writing her most famous novels, during the Regency period, curtains were often built up in complex layers. By now, a huge range of fabrics were available including silks, damasks, velvets, voiles and taffetas. Cords and pulleys were introduced and curtains were made to overlap in the centre. Pull-up curtains were replaced with light, elegant paired curtains often combined with swags and tails. The discoveries at Pompeii and Herculaneum in the latter part of the 1700s led to a new wave of classicism in interiors. The passementerie became even more lavish with the use of silver and gold thread, puff-balls of silk and all-important ostrich feathers dyed in colours as out there as candy pink, acid green and brilliant blue. The famous cabinet-maker Thomas Chippendale designed carved wooden and gilded pelmets which became very fashionable, often covering at least a third of the window. Blacks and reds were popular, lifted with sparkling trimmings made using metallic threads.Īs we moved into the 18th century, walls and windows started to be treated as part of an entire decorative scheme and lighter fabrics were hung on walls. Fashionable colours tended to be deep and rich. Pull-up curtains - the forerunner of our modern-day blinds - were also developed to suit the new style of multi-pane sash windows. These beautiful tassels and fringes (known as ‘passementerie’) were used on window dressings and bedding in equal measure creating a very ostentatious look.Īt this time, curtain tie backs were used and pelmets became fashionable too, hiding curtain rods.
Towards the end of the 17th century, designers sought inspiration from France and the French court and this, together with the arrival in England of the Huguenots (skilled craftsmen escaping persecution) led to an increase in the use of hand-made trimmings on curtains. However, during the Tudor and Stuart periods, curtains of expensive silk, velvet and brocades (fancy woven patterned fabrics) were imported and used as a means of displaying wealth and importance. Windows had been small, narrow slits and were invariably covered with oiled wax papers or internal shutters if covered at all. Before then, textiles had been used on beds and as wall hangings rather than draped at windows, to provide warmth and to soften stark interiors.
The first curtains were introduced into the homes of the rich in the 15th century.
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