The classic study of the development of American furniture design from the Jacobean to Early Victorian periods. Historically presented and richly illustrated with 700 photos, the styles are presented historically. The lives of the craftsmen are described, their work is explained, and design innovations are shown in detail. A number of authentic room setting photographs are included to help establish the context for the furniture.
Meant for both connoisseur and amateur, this is the definitive book in its field. During ten years of research, the authors examined furniture from coast to coast, in museums and private collections. American Furniture has a running text along with its identification captions, which places furniture in its social and historical context. In its 100 color pictures and 1300 black-and-white photos, the book frequently presents furniture in the rooms they were made for. There is extensive coverage of the masterpieces from the seventeenth century to the present, many of them newly photographed for this book, but coverage is by no means restricted to these pieces. This is the first book to encompass furniture "away from the mainstream"--Pieces made away from the furniture centers of New York, New England, and Pennsylvania. Thus, there is discussion of the furniture of the Southwest; furniture made in Dutch, Spanish, French, and Norwegian settlements; and furniture made in religious enclaves or as part of social or aesthetic reform movements. Also, line drawings reveal how antique furniture was made--and therefore how to tell a genuine antique from a forgery.--From publisher description.
Drawing on the latest scholarship, this comprehensive, lavishly illustrated survey tells the story of the evolution of American furniture from the 17th century to the present. Not viewed in isolation, furniture is placed in its broader cultural, historic, and aesthetic context. The focus is not only on the urban masterpieces of 18th century William and Mary, Queen Anne, Chippendale, and Federal styles but also on the work of numerous rural cabinetmakers. Special chapters explore Windsor chairs, Shaker, and Pennsylvania German furniture which do not follow the mainstream style progression. Picturesque and anti-classical explain Victorian furniture including Rococo, Renaissance, and Eastlake. Mission and Arts and Crafts furniture introduce the 20th century. Another chapter identifies the eclectic revivals such as Early American that dominated the mass market throughout much of the 20th century. After World War II American designers created many of the Mid-Century Modern icons that are much sought after by collectors today. The rise of studio furniture and furniture as art which include some of the most creative and imaginative furniture produced in the 20th and 21st centuries caps the review of four centuries of American furniture. A final chapter advises on how to evaluate the authenticity of both traditional and modern furniture and how to preserve it for posterity. With over 800 photos including 24 pages of color, this fully illustrated text is the authoritative reference work.
Presenting 10 projects -- from shaping the surface through layout to rough carving and detailed carving -- this guide explains the process of carving authentic motifs found on the most treasured pieces of 18th-century American furniture. Written with a two-pronged approach, the book first emphasises that these are learned skills and offers guidance while, secondly, providing all the complex details that serious carvers need to reproduce each element with confidence. Selected for their importance and popularity on museum-quality pieces, projects include the cabriole leg, Philadelphia-style ball and claw foot, carved foliage on knee, Philadelphia rosette, and Newport flame finial, among others.
The history and construction of 18th century American furniture is examined in this critical evaluation that looks at the topic both from an aesthetic and technical point of view
