Richard Hicks Bridgens' book Furniture with Candelabra and Interior Decoration (1838, read the book here) covered interior designs in the Grecian, Elizabethan and Gothic styles, and depicts a time when styles were changing from the classically inspired, quite sensual interiors of the Regency era (above), to, for Bidgens, the more Gothic inspired. Architecture was being influenced by the Gothic at this time; Charles Barry's Gothic masterpiece (King Edward's School on New Street) had been completed in Birmingham in 1834, and Bridgens, who had returned to Birmingham briefly to work on furniture at Aston Hall, was probably inspired by these new ideas when producing his book. As the designs are from a pattern book, we cannot know if anyone took up Bridgens armoury idea (below), especially as it is a very literal representation; Gothic architecture is one thing, but a Gothic drawing room is not particularly cosy.
