Furniture styles (periods) Book/web site...

[john davey]

I am baffled by all of the styles of furniture I read about. You know federal, Chippendale, Queen Ann etc... Plus shaker, mission and green & green etc... Is there a good book or web site that explains all of this? I am not a furniture collector nor a very good furniture maker at the moment but I hope to be that latter soon ( and only collect my stuff :) ). But I really would like to know more about all of the different styles. Any help would be appreciated. Currently I do like to copy certain designs that I like but it would be like to know what it is I like. Thanks, John...

[Dave Anderson NH]

The best sources are usually antique magazines or a book like Jeffrey Greene's American Furniture of the 18th Century. An alternate if you can find a used copy is Wallace Nutting's Furniture Treasury. Unfortunately the list of books could go on forever. You might want to check out the website of the Society of American Period Furniture Maker at www.sapfm.org (http://www.sapfm.org). There is lots of good information there and the forum is attended by many of the best makers in this country.

[john brenton]

You might want to check the library...you know, that place where all the bums go to get on Facebook?


Anywho, there is a great selection at my library on furniture styles, periods, etc.


I am baffled by all of the styles of furniture I read about. You know federal, Chippendale, Queen Ann etc... Plus shaker, mission and green & green etc... Is there a good book or web site that explains all of this? I am not a furniture collector nor a very good furniture maker at the moment but I hope to be that latter soon ( and only collect my stuff :) ). But I really would like to know more about all of the different styles. Any help would be appreciated. Currently I do like to copy certain designs that I like but it would be like to know what it is I like. Thanks, John...

[Mark Wyatt]

I'm not overly fond of visiting the library, but this is one of those needs for which they really excel.

[Bill Houghton]

I'm not overly fond of visiting the library, but this is one of those needs for which they really excel.

I'm curious - why not? I mean, my very question may reveal what a library junkie I am, but I'd sure suffer if they went away.

[john davey]

Thanks for the replies. Sadly my library is a joke on all things woodworking. I'll have to check for furniture but I dont hold much hope for them. They just sentenced our county exec to seven years so it is easy to see how the area has gone to crap :(.

[John T Barker]

My experience is dominated by Queen Anne and Chippendale and some Federal. I know Shaker and Arts and Crafts too but there are holes in my knowledge...which is okay because they are mostly crap. I have picked up a few books, unintentionally, that tell furniture styles through the years. They are real general but give you a sense of what was what. I'll post the name of one or two when I get home.

John

[Matthew Hills]

Google is your friend here:
http://www.connectedlines.com/styleguide/
(has crude sketches of styles and description of characteristics)

or use google image search for any term you're interested in.


Matt

[Leo Passant]

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=The+Queen+is+Dead…+uh…+Long+Live+the+Queen (http://lmgtfy.com/?q=The+Queen+is+Dead%E2%80%A6+uh%E2%80%A6+Long+Liv e+the+Queen)

[Mark Wyatt]

I'm curious - why not? I mean, my very question may reveal what a library junkie I am, but I'd sure suffer if they went away.

Like many, the Indianapolis public library system has faced significant budget cuts. Our libraries are doing the best they can given funding, but they do have problems. The first issue is the hours of operation. Our local library is not open at very convenient times and is forced to close certain days of the week. Secondly, the buildings and books are dirty. I usually walk around with a Clorox wipe and clean the (plastic) book covers before I look at them. Third, our library and staff focus most of their energy on providing internet access. It is often difficult to get someone to help you find a book and the computers are forcing the books out of the building. Of course, budget cuts also mean less books in circulation and more lending/sharing between libraries which takes time. Libraries can be great, but our city system is not.

[Jack Curtis]

Thanks for the replies. Sadly my library is a joke on all things woodworking. I'll have to check for furniture but I dont hold much hope for them. They just sentenced our county exec to seven years so it is easy to see how the area has gone to crap :(.

Well, this is not a woodworking question, per se, it's about furniture styles, art, fashion, history, antiques. and the like.

Jack

[Jerome Hanby]

If your library system has multiple branches and has a decent web site, you may be able to look at all the books in the system and request the ones you want be sent to your local branch. I do that often to preview books before I buy. I like having my own copies, but buying them cold is pretty hit or miss (mostly miss). On the flip side, I've never gotten a bad tip from a fellow 'creeker. All of those have been keepers!

[Matt Sauber]

I know Shaker and Arts and Crafts too but there are holes in my knowledge...which is okay because they are mostly crap.

Huh? Shaker furniture is mostly crap? Arts and Crafts is mostly crap? That is the first I've heard those things said. Please, defend yourself, sir. What makes these forms "mostly crap"?

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

Your profile lists you as being in College Park, so it might be worth checking out the library at UMD.

I have stumbled across a lot of really cool books on woodworking, as well as architecture and furniture styles at my local University library. Part of it depends on the types of courses they offer and have offered, and how well the University is funded and how long it's been around, but for more esoteric non-fiction subjects, they can be worth checking out. I think I first stumbled there looking for a copy of "Woodworking in Estonia" after hearing it mentioned by Underhill, but was surprised by all the interesting books I ran across. They seem like in general, University libraries hold onto things a lot longer, regardless of circulation, if the information isn't outdated, which may happen with science texts, but not the stuff we're talking about here.

Often you probably can't check out the books if you aren't a student or alumni without paying a fee, unlike the public library, which may very well be free to you, but it may be worth checking out what's around. If the college or university is state school, there may be no fee or a resident, or it may be considerably cheaper. I think I payed 30 bucks for a year of access at UVM - but for the longest time I just read things there.

The books are often a little more dense - the collection is aimed at the academic, of course, so you may find interesting books about historical woodworking, but some of them will be historical texts, or reprints of Moxon or what have you, but you probably won't find "Build your own Kitchen Cabinets" or something like Tolpin's new book, but if you're into the subject in question, it may be worth struggling through. I've never been able to send myself to college, but I really love taking advantage of the library. I end up adding all sorts of knowledge to all of my weird hobbies having been through that building.

[john brenton]

The county library is only a block up from where I work, and I'll occasionally walk over and get a book. I have two books on woodturning right now that are really interesting. BUT, I definitely don't enjoy going there. It's a nice library, but I have to walk through thugs and bums DEMANDING cigarettes just to get to the door. And then, like I said, nobody is reading a book...but you'd have to wake up pretty early to get on the computer. I walk by and EVERYONE is on Facebook. I walk by the "employment center" and everyone is on Facebook. It's depressing.


Like many, the Indianapolis public library system has faced significant budget cuts. Our libraries are doing the best they can given funding, but they do have problems. The first issue is the hours of operation. Our local library is not open at very convenient times and is forced to close certain days of the week. Secondly, the buildings and books are dirty. I usually walk around with a Clorox wipe and clean the (plastic) book covers before I look at them. Third, our library and staff focus most of their energy on providing internet access. It is often difficult to get someone to help you find a book and the computers are forcing the books out of the building. Of course, budget cuts also mean less books in circulation and more lending/sharing between libraries which takes time. Libraries can be great, but our city system is not.

[Danny Buie]

John,
I had the same question years ago and I really did not start off on a study of furniture styles. I agree that the library is a good source as well as the web. Both can get you off track. Museums are also a good resource. You live in Maryland; it's not that far to Washington, DC and Williamsburg. A bit more and you could be at Winterthur, one of the DuPont estates. Avoid modern furniture stores and their mass produced compromises.

I started with Shaker because it appealed to me. I looked at several books and because of my work I had the opportunity to visit two Shaker villages and got to see some of the better examples of the furniture in the place where it was made and used. I began to see the features that make Shaker Furniture Shaker; a general lack of ornamentation, good form and solid construction. I studied the construction techniques and built a couple of pieces.

From Shaker I moved on to Queen Anne, similar construction techniques with graceful flowing curves, cabriole legs, and restrained carving. I studied more books and vested more museums. I built a piece with cabriole legs. Queen Anne takes you to the 18th century and to a whole lot of other styles, each with its own characteristics.

Somewhere along the way I looked at the Arts and Crafts movement. Stickley's early stuff was clunky (in my opinion) but the work of Harvey Ellis, who worked as a designer for Stickley, introduced much more refined designs that included inlays. I began to see the influence of certain designers. A&C is a pretty broad field when it is looked at in detail. I built a walnut bed with some A&C characteristics.

Biedermeier, mid-century modern, Art Deco, Art Nouveau and the Louis's to name a few more.

Don't try to figure it all out at once; it will make you head hurt. Get yourself a sketch book and start to draw the things you see, make notes with the date and location. Don't worry if they are crude, I am no artist either; this is for you and is a record you can look back on. Sketch the furniture you want to build. Teach yourself what good form and proportion is. One day you can look and see good and bad design.

Fine a style that interests you and have at it.
Danny Buie
Baton Rouge, LA

[Mark Wyatt]

Danny mentioned something that triggered a memory; he mentioned early arts & crafts (Stickley) furniture being "clunky." Whenever the opportunity presents itself, I try to get to museum displays which include furniture. The Idianapolis Museum of Art had an arts & crafts retrospective a few years back. It was very helpful to see early examples of the furniture form along with the historical background and evolution of other, non-woodworking, crafts. Much of the early arts and craft furniture they had was heavy, squarish, and utilitarian. The museum also presented a very helpful walk through the progression of the movement with many prominent examples. It really helped to understand how the design came to be and how and why is changed over time.

[Rob Lee]

Hi -

Here's a neat 1 page "history of furniture"...

http://www.maltwood.uvic.ca/hoft/timeline.html

Cheers -

Rob