The Adam style (or Adamesque) is a style of neoclassicalarchitecture and design as practised by Scottish architect Robert Adam (1728_ 1792) and his brothers. A book of engraved designs made the "Adam" repertory available throughout Europe. A parallel development of this early phase of neoclassical design is French "Louis XVI style.
Robert Adam's main rivals were James Wyatt, whose many designs for furniture were less known outside the wide circle of his patrons, because he never published a book of engravings, and Sir William Chambers, who designed fewer furnishings for his interiors, preferring to work with able cabinet-makers like John Linnell, Thomas Chippendale and Ince and Mayhew. So many able designers were working in this style in London from ca. 1770, that the style is currently more usually termed Early Neoclassical.
In this movement Robert Adam was the leader, and his influence, paramount from 1764 to 1784, persisted for half a century, strongly affecting the work of George Hepplewhite, Thomas Sheraton, and all their contemporaries.
While James Adam should not be deprived of the credit due him for his part in the work of the firm and the development of the Adamstyle, nevertheless the interest of biographer and critic finds itself fixed inevitably on the life and achievements of Robert.
Adam's critics differ somewhat widely in their appraisal of his work, but all agree as to the importance of his introductions in the development of English style.
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