Furniture Styles for Dummies

[Torch02]

Does anyone know of a book/website/whatever that does a good job of explaining & descibing the breadth of furniture styles?

Specifically, it would say "Style X is identified by features A, B, & C. It was made by <these people> during <that time>. Below are some pictures of pieces in Style X, with captions describing the features mentioned above."

Am I to pie-in-the-sky hopeful that such a resource exists?

[lwllms]

There's a chapter in The Furniture Doctor by George Grotz that's about the most concise thing I've seen. It's actually very well written and the chapter on styles is called "Furniture Periods--Exposed at Last Or please Mr. Chippendale, couldn't you slice the baloney just a little bit thinner?" I'm sure the book is out of print, I think there was only the 1962 edition. It was one of my first woodworking books when I started a lot of years ago.

[jHop]

I ran across a Taunton Press book at the library (don't remember the title) that provided a beginner's point of view about styles. I believe it was an introduction to furniture, or basic cabinetry, or something along those lines. it didn't go into full depth like you are asking, but it did provide a basic idea of three or four major styles.

The points I have learned on the Federal style is the long, slender legs and thin inlay near prominent edges. Mission is filled with basic joinery, Shaker is mostly through mortises and fewer mechanical fasteners.

Beyond that, though, I'm fairly clueless about the design styles.

[mlingenfelter]

I have this book "Furniture: World Styles from Classical to Contemporary", and it covers a lot of different styles. it might not have the "formulas" you are looking for, but it covers a lot of different styles.

Mike

[RenaissanceWW]

Steve, the problem is your topic is so diverse that one book may not cover the whole thing. There are many books that only cover the "Golden Age" of furniture in the late 17th and 18th centuries (William & Mary, Queen Anne, Chippendaile, and various iterations of Federal) but you usually have to look for another title for Arts & Crafts because that is such a diverse topic on it's own. The same would apply as soon as you leave Western styles and look East. So here are a few suggestions to get you started:

"Funiture" by Judith Miller: This is more of a coffee table book but covers from soup to nuts chronologically as well as regionally the different periods and major artists of those periods.

"American Furniture of the 18th Centruy" by Jeffrey Greene: I highly recommend this book as it is written by a woodworker and goes into great detail on how the styles are made. It starts with history and stylistic elements for Jacobean, William & Mary, Queen Anne, Chippendale, and Federal then it breaks down sample pieces showing those elements and construction forms. Put this at the top of your list

"In the 18th Century Style" Taunton Press: good project book of period styles but also a good intro to basic style difference. The projects that follow it are all good and worth a try too.

"The Shaker Legacy" by Christian Becksvoort: another excellent example of a stylistic discussion by a woodworker. Great images and a lot of inspiration from the style. You will learn about the regional difference from one community to another

"Furniture of The American Arts & Crafts Movement" by David M. Cather: This is an older book with great historical detail of the movement and the various factions that make it up. Black and White photos but great detail.

"Popular Woodworking's Arts and Crafts Furniture for Every Room in Your House" again more of a project book but the prologue to each build give some great insights into the specific styles within A&C like Stickley, Limbert, Roycroft, Greene, etc.

If you want to focus on specific styles, then there are great books out there with extensive info on the history, environmental factors, and elements of the styles. The Winterthur museum has some great titles in this vein. This is actually the direction I will be taking The Hand Tool School in future semester. Kind of a art history combine with woodworking project class. It should be fun.

The best thing I have found to learn about the styles is to see them face to face. If you can get away sometime, let me know and we can go up to Winterthur together and take the tour then I can walk you through the galleries and point out the specifics. This is what Chuck Bender did with me and I learned volumes. Or if you like I can come down to you and do the Smithsonian thing.

[RenaissanceWW]

One things I forgot to mention in my last post is that even with all of the recommendations they are still rather ethnocentric and focused on American styles. I have been researching English and European version of the above styles a lot and you find many differences. This is another layer of the onion altogether.

[mlehikoinen]

I'm in the same boat. There's soo many different styles and characteristics that identify a particular style that it leaves my head swimming. I'm sure there are a few I've not even heard of! :blink:

[Beechwood Chip]

It occurred to me that this was the sort of thing you'd find on a web site rather than in a book. I googled for furniture style guide and this was the first hit. It's not exactly what you wanted, but close. I didn't look at the rest - there may be something close to what you wanted.

[iSawitFirst]

It occurred to me that this was the sort of thing you'd find on a web site rather than in a book. I googled for furniture style guide and this was the first hit. It's not exactly what you wanted, but close. I didn't look at the rest - there may be something close to what you wanted.

Chip,

You gave up too quick. I went to the connectedlines.com page and in one more click, found this. It looks like for $20 you get a ton of info on the listed styles.

I'm letting Santa know about this.