Furniture dates back to the Egyptian Times. Egyptian Furniture was sometimes elaborate and gilded with gold while others were plain. Most furniture is made from wood but some have been made from metal or stone. The styles of furnitures often depicts the era in which it was made, but just as we sometimes reproduce the styles of earlier periods, so did the Victorians copy styles from earlier eras.
Just as furniture changed throughout the eras, each country also had its own style of furniture.
In England, early furniture from the Jacobean era, tended to be made from oak. The Jacobean era dated between 1600 and 1650. During the latter part of the Carolean (1650 - 1700) England saw the introduction of Walnut. From around 1770 the trend turned to mahogany and this fashion lasted until Edwardian era.
In France, Walnut was the most commonly used wood from Louis XIII (1610 to 1643) until the Edwardian era. Mahogany was also used from Louis XV (1715-74) until the Edwardian age. Oak was often used between 1610 until the early 1800's.
The wood predominately used in Italy was Walnut followed closely by Mahogony. Italian styles are often very decorative and often gilded.