Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian Internal Doors

Materials

Georgian doors often had six panels. From the 1840s, most Victorian and Edwardian doors had four panels, although doors to service areas could be plain. In the Edwardian era, the doors to more important rooms had six panels. By the 1920s, doors were becoming more plain. Planted mouldings were nailed on.

The ideal internal door was in oak or mahogany i.e. hardwood; in practice most were softwood, usually pine.

Finishes

Hardwood doors were polished or varnishes. Softwood, public-facing downstairs doors were grained to simulate oak or mahogany, and all other doors painted. Wood graining's popularity was at a peak in about 1900.

The panels of doors, whether grained or painted, were sometimes decorated with a stencilled pattern or a special paper insert.

Door Fittings

Important doors had brass or bronze, glass, ebony or white china door fittings. Other doors would have had more modest fittings such as tin finger plates. Cupboards would have had wooden knobs.

For the first half of the 19th century, door furniture was usually plain; knobs were of brass, turned wood, or glazed china. Fingerplates and escutcheons were also in simple patterns.

Wrought, pierced, stamped and beaten metal came into fashion with the Arts and Crafts movement. The metals used were iron, copper and brass.

See the section on Door Furniture.