The article describes the influence of continental European furniture styles on English style beginning in the late 17th century. Continental European immigrants of the late 17th century are credited with inspiring the first highly sophisticated cabinet making in England. French and Dutch were particularly important in the late 17th and 18th century. Much furniture of the William and Mary and early Queen Anne periods can be described as 'Anglo-Dutch'. French Rococo of the 18th century was incorporated cautiously into the designs of English cabinet makers. Similarities between French and English neo-Classicism of the 1760-80 period are obvious; both England and France seem to have been influenced by Italy in the emergence of this style. In the early 19th century, the French Empire style and English Regency style incorporated elements drawn from studies of classical civilization. Mixed styles were common during the 19th century throughout Europe, but a distinctive 19th century flavor emerged as well; a distinctive Victorian chair with cabriole legs is one example. The Great Exhibition of 1851 in London demonstrated the internationalization of furniture styles of the mid 19th century. A particularly influential designer was Michel Thonet, an Austrian, whose bentwood chairs came into widespread use in England. These chairs strongly influenced subsequent furniture design.