Campaign furniture

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Campaign furniture is a type of furniture that was made for travel. Much of it was made for military campaigns and includes folding chairs and chests that could be easily unscrewed and packed. One of the most famous pieces of campaign furniture was the Wellington Chest, named for the 1st Duke of Wellington.

Campaign furniture, designed to be folded up, packed, and carried on the march, has been used by travelling armies since the time of Julius Caesar, and even earlier. With the rise and expansion of the British Empire in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, as British gentlemen came to dominate the army, government and commerce in colonies throughout the world, the finest British furniture makers produced for this new class of traveller some of the most stylish pieces of portable furniture ever made.

British officers of high social position in the Georgian and Victorian periods (1714-1901) took it for granted that when they set out on a military campaign in Africa or India they could enjoy the same standard of living as they did at home. While "under canvas," as life in camp was called, an officer and a gentleman assured himself a high degree of comfort by using specially designed pieces of campaign, or knock-down, furniture.

[edit] External links

• Campaign Furniture - photos of antique british campaign furniture