Customer Reviews

Furniture

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A few months ago, I found this book while browsing through the shelves at a local bookstore. The fantastic pictures and descriptions in the book ignited my interest in furniture history. This is not a how-to book, but if you want an understanding of the details that are characteristic of particular furniture styles -- as well as some background on the historical, political and social forces that influenced these designs -- you probably won't find a better reference manual.
The book covers furniture from around the world over a 3,000-year period and includes over 3,500 excellent photographs and illustrations. Regardless of your interests and tastes -- from Chippendale to Capellini or Newport to Newson -- you'll find examples and information on styles, history and biographies that will broaden your knowledge of furniture development.


Furniture has twelve chapters, covering styles from the ancient furniture of Egypt, Greece and Rome to European styles of the 17th to 19th centuries. There are also chapters on Chinese, South African and American furniture, as well as a discussion on contemporary designs and directions. Each chapter opens with an historical overview of the era being examined.
For each era, there is also a timeline of events that helps the reader understand factors that influenced each era's furniture designs and materials. The historical discussion in each chapter is followed by a section called "Elements of Style," where that era's prominent stylistic details are thoroughly examined, followed by examples of magnificent manifestations of furniture in different countries. Within each style, Miller presents the reader with an ongoing understanding of how the three basic furniture forms -- chairs, tables and case pieces -- evolved and who the influential makers were.
The appendices of this book are also noteworthy. They include:

* Anatomy of Furniture. Contains descriptions of many common furniture elements such as plinths, friezes, escutcheons and cross-banding.
* Useful Addresses.A listing of museums, galleries and historical buildings around the world.
* Further Reading. An extended list of books and publications on the subject.
* Dealer Codes. A list of identifying codes for dealers and auction houses that have been involved in the selling of many of the pieces featured in the book.
* Glossary. A six-page section containing valuable, concise definitions and descriptions of important furniture terms.
* Index. A well-cross-referenced index to individuals, countries, styles and furniture types presented in the book.

In short, Furniture shows in brilliant photographs and scholarly research how historical and social events influenced furniture development. This will be an excellent addition to your reference shelf or, better yet, a well-read and often-referenced display for your coffee table.
. . . Alan Young

This is an absolutely beautiful book. The photography is spectacular, all of the pieces are on a white background so you can really see the details. It has a lot of information accompanying the photos and covers all the major time periods. I would like to use this as a text for the History of Interiors class I teach.

This book is really the reference book for furniture and has a Wide variety of furniture types covered! About 99% of the books pages contain Beautiful and 100% clear Photographs.
The only real dissappointment is that the book containsonly one page for each of the 3 Ancient civilizations mentioned in the book, the Ancient Egyptians, Ancient Greeks and Romans, and Ancient Chinese. If it had a large variety like other types of furniture periods covered, this book would be the greatest Furniture and Prop Reference book.

Great book, great overview of various styles. Lots of beautiful pics. Good to show clients.

This book is amazing, and needs to be on your shelf if you are involved in Interior Design, Historical Renovation, miniatures construction, film making, etc., etc! What I like best is that it treats less-expected styles, such as Scandinavian and Russian, which are often difficult to locate. The photos are outstanding. The quick Elements of Style at the beginning of each chapter are nut-shell explanations of how to identify a piece as belonging to a certain era. Well worth the price.

I am an interior design student, and have found this book to be a quality 5 star reference. The book is stunningly illustrated with furniture styles co-ordinated in easy to follow chronological order. This book has obviously been compiled with abundant thought and passion. I am thrilled with this book and highly recommend it!

A precious book for antique furniture's lovers. Wonderful pictures with an accurate description. Each period has been subdivided into different parts so it's easy to find what you are looking for. A really lush edition.

This book is stunning! It is full of color photos of every type of furniture from Anciet Egypt to Modern designers. Each period is also divided into countries, so it is easy to find specific information. I highly recommend this book.

We found this book to be a useful guide for styles of furniture of the upper class of society. For doing stage productions this is very helpful, however, more pictures of "common" furniture styles would make this a perfect book for our reference. If you are interested in collecting antique or reproduction furniture you will find this a great resource. It's like strolling through a museum.

A professional Interior Designer of 22 years, I also teach Interior Design at the University level. I am proud to require this as our textbook for History of Furniture. The photography, the selected pieces, the detailed information --- on-target! Students actually enjoy learning historical styles, all-the-while picking-up a little World History along the way. (Warms a teacher's heart!)

The book contains elegant photos of furniture only found in world famous museums. Judith Miller has given us an up-close and personal look at seldom seen antiques, as well as more current pieces. Even the dedicated student would have had to spend years visiting select museums for just a peek. The quality of the research, the pictures, even the quality of the paper tells the reader "something special is behind this cover".

All this AND, it's a gorgeous Coffee Table Book; worthy of a Christmas gift to that hard-to-buy-for person on everyone's list.