Customer Reviews

Early American Decorative Arts, 1620-1860: A Handbook for Interpreters (American Association for State and Local History)

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Early American Decorative Arts, 1620-1860: A Handbook for Interpreters. Author: Pauline K. Eversmann. 320 pages. Revised edition, 2000.

This book was recommended to me by a fellow guide at Waynesborough. Wow!!! Rarely to you read a book which is as broad in its approach, as deep in its information and yet so eminently readable. This book answered questions and made me ask even more. It has and will continue to make me a better tour guide.

The book was put together as a training guide and reference for guides/interpreters at the Winterthur Museum. The book opens with an introduction and is then organized both by period and by specialized topic. The introduction sets the format for each section which follows it. The introduction has separate chapters on the task and theory of interpreting the decorative arts, how to look at objects, understanding the style in which the object was used, the making and marketing of objects and finally owning using, and living with the objects. These chapters are condensed in each further section to provide the format. These initial chapters start dry but as you read you will uncover interesting facts and issues which shape how objects came to be and how they were used through generations. Factored into this is the influence of road networks and transportation, literacy, family size and mortality, British mercantile rules and traditions, specialization, material availability, religion and many other factors which I had not considered. Wow!!! This has already changed the way I talk about certain rooms at Waynesborough

Each section follows the same format, has notes, and a bibliography which makes it ideal as a reference guide. The format for each selection provides a holistic approach to studying and interpreting the material both in the book and at what ever site you are interpreting. The section begins with a visual appreciation of what the object is and changes in that object. The focus is on lines, colors, materials etc. This is followed by a section on style as it applies to the object through time and use which then goes into how the various objects are actually manufactured and then marketed. During the sections on the manufacture of various metal objects I was nodding along with the text recalling my metallurgical art classes and work in the foundry. Once the object has been identified, manufactured, and marketed it then goes on to what it was like to live with the object and then a conclusion and bibliography. The same format is used for eras or style sections i.e. Queen Anne, William and Mary, Chippendale, Federal, Adam etc.

The section by section bibliography is worth the price of the book for further research and dabbling.

The only problem with the book is that the text describing an object is not always on the same page as the photo of the object which causes some page flipping.

This book is a must have for interpreters, guides, tourists who like old houses or students of colonial American history. The insights it provides to how people lived and what they lived with is phenomenal.