30 Found Photographs of People at Home From the Late 19th Century

Victorian decorating was the polar opposite of today’s modern styles. It was a time of heavy, ornate furnishings, oversized everything, and a penchant for knickknacks. The resulting style is romantic, complex, warm, and dramatic, dripping with opulence and excess; basically, enough to make any minimalist shudder.

Victorian furniture is often revivalist in style, in that it adopts stylistic motifs from other periods, creating huge waves of revivals with nostalgic nods to the past. Victorian furniture pieces are valued for their opulence and elegance.

There is a rich variety within Victorian furniture designs, each piece having been influenced by its individual revival. Pieces can be identified by their iconic features which make them authentic to their time.

These found photos from Winterthur Library that captured people at home from between the 1870s and 1890s.

People seated on and by staircase

Family grouped around Christmas tree

Family in room with piano

Family reading in corner of room

Family reading in room

Family seated at dining room table

Family seated in dining room

Family seated in front of lace curtain

Family seated in front of piano

Family seated in front of window

Family seated in room

Girl on sofa holding doll

Large family in corner of room

Man and woman seated in front of bookcase

Man playing a mandolin

Man reading by window

Man standing in room

Old woman seated in rocker

Three women in corner of room

Woman leaning on sideboard

Woman seated at piano in living room

Woman seated by fireplace with dog in lap

Woman seated by piano

Woman seated in corner of room

Woman seated in interior of alcove

Woman seated in rocking chair

Woman seated in wicker chair

Woman standing in room

Young woman playing a guitar

Young woman seated at piano