Was furniture stained in Jacobean ages?

Did people stained or coloured furniture in darker tones in Jacobean ages? English oak is light color wood but these antique furniture always looks dark brown, I am interested do we have documented that people intentionally darken the wood? If yes, what stain/color was used?
Yes, I know wood naturally darken over time, but I am only interested in documentation not someone opinion or speculation.

I ask this because some people claim in Jacobean ages people used only some clear oils, like linseed oil to protect the wood, so did not stained wood to look it darker but others claim wood was stained in darker tones intentionally even in Jacobean ages.

Here are important parts that I selected from video about English furniture history:

Antique furniture expert Arthur Negus say at:
watch at (31m46s - 32m07s) :




watch at (29m15s - 30m15s):



watch at (40m14s - 40m35s):


How would you interpret Arthur words, does he want to say that wood wasn't stained in darker color, so wood was in original natural color in Jacobean ages? If wood was stained darker originally, we can still have these worn out color parts, so worn out color ares cant be proof that furniture wasn't stained..


(I also find here something about stain, but no related to Jacobean era, this I think refer to crica 1800)
watch at(39m40s -42m35s):

 

@verybrad @komokwa @Any Jewelry @Bakersgma

Hi, do you know maybe answer or maybe you can suggest member who is a expert at this subject?

 

@Ghopper1924

 

Not an expert, but from what I've learned Jacobean furniture was stained dark intentionally, and painted in dark colors as well. I believe that the darker color was related to prestige as well as simply for hiding dirt.

 

Thanks for answer. How do you interpret at what Arthur Negus say in my videos, what is his point? Does he imply that furniture wasn't stained or I misunderstand him?

 

I believe he is saying it wasn't stained, but I may have misunderstood.

 

So furniture in England in 17th century was all in original natural wood color, oak= light honey, walnut=brown etc?
You don't agree with him?

Any literature to check this?

 

I believe that is what he implied, but as I said I may have misunderstood.

And bear in mind that colours deepen and darken with the many layers of wax and the handling 17th century furniture has had over the years.

What makes you think so?

Arthur Negus has written books:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/83245.Arthur_Negus

 

Because you liked comment from @Ghopper1924, where he write that he thinks furniture was stained, so that mean like you agree with him.

 

That is your conclusion, for me things are not as black and white. There are several reasons why I can like a post.

Besides, I am not British and not an expert on British furniture. I just try to help where I can.
I suggest you order one or more books by Arthur Negus to find out what he meant. There is a list in the link I posted.

 

Good question. Furniture darkens naturally over time as the finish oxidizes and changes due to UV exposure. Consequently, a lot of dark antique furniture we see today, did not start out that way. Now, whether furniture that is 300 years old or more was ever stained, I can't say. Would need to defer to others with more expertise than I. Furniture color is very much fashion driven. Fashion was certainly a thing 3-400 years ago so could see how staining furniture could have been a thing back then.

 

Here at 31m46s Arthur say " ..because when this things were made, they were absolutely brand new, you didn't have to stain them to look old, they were brand new..."

This implies that the furniture was not stained/painted, but to me it seems really strange that people didn't have paints/stains in the 17th century.

I think maybe they want to darken them to look like more expensive woods, walnut, ebony etc..

 

In 17th century Netherlands they painted furniture in green, blue, lacquer red and even white, but that is different from staining. They also painted details in different colours.

 

you didn't have to stain them to look old, they were brand new..."

to look old........... is the key here....

it doesn't mean that furniture was not stained.........

just that the stain wasn't used to give furniture a look , like it was made a long time ago...

 

Yes I think that make sense.

Also good idea is to check what color is furniture on paintings from that time.

 

That's how I interpreted it too. Our ancestors definitely painted, blackened, stained, and otherwise altered the color of wood surfaces. Staining wood was done in ancient times. I don't know what particular era or regional fashions there were at a specific time and place though.

 

It's very strange that we can't find a record of such a trivial thing.

 

There are probably records somewhere, but they may be hard to find because it is such a trivial thing.