The Complete Guide to Furniture Styles (enlarged editon)

From Front Jacket: "Here in one volume is a comprehensive guide to the stylistic development of domestic furniture from classical times to the present in Europe, America and China. Starting with a resume of ancient and medieval furniture, and with detailed chapters on the furniture of Italy, Spain, and the Low Countries, the book then takes up the great periods of French and English furniture from the Renaissance through Empire and Regency. In this new revised edition chapters have been added on English Victorian, American Victorian, Art Nouveau and the 20th Century.. Outstanding examples of furniture of every period are illustrated in over 600 photographs from the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Philadelphia Art Museum, the Henry Francis Dupont Winterthur Museum, the Henry Ford Museum, The Victoria and Albert Museum, London, the Louvre and Musee des Arts Decoratifs, Paris, the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, the Kunsthistorisches Museu, Vienna, the Kustindustrimusett, Copenhagen, and mnay others." **** From Foreword by Author: "In preparing the work the material was selected to provide the practical knowledge necessary for following the development of the styles of furniture in Italy, France, the Netherlands, Spain, England and America. Chinese furniture of the Ming dynasty has also been included. The author has endeavored to compile the accurate and concise reference book useful to the students and to the general reader and enquirer. It has been the purpose to provide the student with the elemental knowledge required to understand the more specialized literature pertaining to the history of cabinetwork and to instill in the general reader and enquirer a genuine interest in historic cabinetwork through a more complete and sympathetic understanding of the people who designed it, made it and used it. The study of furniture has many facets which become brighter as our knowledge increases. To compile a history of the styles of furniture it is essential to establish the background by sketching in many aspects, such as the temperament of the people, the wars, alliances and trade, all of which are woven into the pageant of cabinetwork these events make their indelible imprint upon the artistic as well as the practical development of this craft. Social amenities, fashions in dress and many other customs are mirrored in furniture design. Architecture and the decorative background are intimately related to furniture and any integral study of furniture must always be judged in relation to it architectural environment. Last and by far the moth important factor is a correct understanding of the different styles of furniture, for the real enjoyment of furniture lies in a knowledge of these styles plus an awareness of the close relationship of furniture to the domestic life of a community. The photographs have been selected with exacting care to be used either cumulatively to expand the text or independently