Country furniture, furniture made by country craftsmen, varying from purely functional pieces made by amateurs to expertly constructed and carved work based on luxurious furniture made for the rich. Much country furniture is naive, with the best of such examples falling into the category of folk art. The furniture is sturdy, rarely delicate in design or workmanship, and restricted in its types. Decoration may be confined to turning (shaping on a lathe), low-relief carving, or painting. More sophisticated decoration such as marquetry or gilding is not found on this type of furniture. Country furniture bore many of the same characteristics for centuries, for styles changed slowly and lingered long after they had been dropped in fashionable furniture.
