c. 1920–1940

Art Deco

Geometric glamour: exotic veneers, sunbursts and chevrons, stepped forms, fluting and lacquer.

Art Deco, from about 1920 to 1940, combined geometry with luxury: stepped forms borrowed from skyscrapers, sunbursts and chevrons, fluting, exotic veneers, marquetry and lacquer. It appeared in ocean liners, cinemas, office lobbies and the federal buildings of the 1930s, and in a smoother form as Streamline Moderne.

For custom work, Deco is about surface and silhouette. Veneered or inlaid doors, fluted panels, stepped casings and geometric grilles carry the style, and they are especially effective in bars, powder rooms and entries.