This period is about 1485-1600 AD.
Until the middle of the 17th Century, furniture was fairly simple, made of oak with peg joins. Some items were painted or inlaid, but the decoration, if any, was usually carved. The most common items found today are panelled oak linen storage chests, some of which are hand-carved with architectural shapes or grotesque figures. If the carving is too geometrical and regular is possible that the whole piece is a fake or at least that the decoration has been "improved" or added more recently.
In this period chests of drawers wouldn't be used - hadn't developed yet. There were carcasses containing a couple of drawers mounted on a stand with turned legs, toward the end of this time. The use of veneer began: in this technique, thin pieces of carved or interesting coloured wood were glued to the carcass of the piece, initially as decorative panels and ultimately over the entire item.
Chairs and settles (benches) too, started to change from basic, fairly square and plain designs, becoming more elaborate with carvings and can seats and backs being introduced. The very best pieces destined for aristocratic houses would be lavishly upholstered. Backs became higher and seats lower.
Trade with the Far East began to have an influence on English furniture. Lacquered cabinets with two doors and an arrangement of drawers inside were imported from China and Japan and often mounted on stands once they reached England. This was the birth of the process known as "Japanning", imitating the Oriental lacquers by using oil and spirit varnishes.
Cabinets on stands proliferated all over Europe. In Italy, they were set with panels of marble and semi-precious stones; in the Low Countries, red tortoiseshell was popular. However, it was the court of Louis XIV of France, which instigated the introduction of really luxurious decoration such as floral marquetry in wood and a new and exotic type of marquetry made of ebony veneer, brass and tortoiseshell and sometimes mother-of-pearl or ivory. André-Charles Boulle is credited by some as having invented this technique, which bears his name. Others, however, insist that he was merely an expert executor of the art but not its inventor.
Renaissance furniture in Europe lasted from about 1500 to the
1600. There was a reviving interest in the classical world, (renaissance
meaning rebirth). This movement had its roots in Florence, Italy, and spread to France and Spain during the
16th century.
Later on it came to Germany and England as the Gothic style was slow to yield.
Tudor furniture in England belongs to the Renaissance period.
Walnut wood was increasingly used for furniture because it was easier to
carve than oak.
The Renaissance furniture was classical in outline and detail. It had
architectural details and classical mouldings, decoratively ornamented with
arcanthus leaf, animal forms and roman ornaments like columns and pilasters.
Many of the modern pieces of furniture evolved during this period including the
credenza, the armoire, the chest of drawers and the wardrobe.