How did Victorian marquetry furniture differ from Georgian pieces?

Victorian marquetry furniture carried heavier decoration than Georgian pieces. Georgian cabinetmakers from the 1700s preferred balance, symmetry, and restrained floral detail and Victorian makers from the 1800s leaned toward dark woods, dense ornament, and machine-cut veneer work. Steam-powered saws arrived in Britain during the early Victorian age, where factories could cut thin veneers much faster than hand workshops from earlier centuries. Mahogany, rosewood, walnut, and satinwood became common in middle-class homes, London furniture catalogues from the 1860s listed marquetry side tables, cabinets, card tables, and music stands at many price levels.

Victorian buyers liked flowers, birds, scrolls, and Gothic motifs and Georgian marquetry often showed shells, fans, stringing, or classical urns. Furniture historian Percy Macquoid wrote that Victorian cabinetmakers copied French Louis XV furniture on a huge scale. Some workshops in London employed over 300 staff and mass production lowered prices for ordinary households. Antique dealers still value Georgian marquetry more highly in many cases, mainly from lower survival numbers and stronger hand craftsmanship.