Customer Reviews

Philadelphia Empire Furniture

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

 

 

I found this book full of wonderful information but little original writing by the authors, and alot coming directly from the advertisements or catalogues where the furniture had been illustrated and described before the issue of this book. What original material there was was not in depth but a cursory description of the piece, rarely including any provenance, no condition reports, and poor descriptions of the woods the furniture was made of. I expected scholarship and really it is an elaborate and beautiful picture book. Any nucnces are lost.
Overall it is a fun coffee table book, but does not add much to the knowledge of Philadelphia Classical or Empire Furniture. It is a good start, very good, and a big undertaking to gather all the photographs, but as far as becoming a standard reference on the subjject I was sorely dissapointed, especially at the price.

I agree wholeheartedly with the other review of this book. This book contains a large number of photographs, and for that it can be a useful database, but the book contains no new scholarship in an area in great need of it. American classical/empire furniture is fairly underresearched and documented by comparison with other styles and epoques of American furniture making, and it would have nice -- particularly given the list price of this work -- to have had this book contribute additional learning to the field. Those wishing to learn more about this era of American furniture and cabinet making would do better to consult Wendy Cooper's works such as "Classical Taste in America", Peter Kenney et al's reference on Honnore Lannuier, "Duncan Phyfe and the English Regency" (although this reference is hard to find, very expensive in first edition, and covers more of the federal/empire transition period), or "Classical Maryland". Hopefully, scholars will continue to produce works of the caliber of those, but containing the generous, excellent photographic resources of "Philadelphia Empire Furniture".

This book would prove a great resource guide for anyone considering the purchase of a piece that is represented as "Philadelphian".

Frequent use of improper and inconsistent terminology, confused syntax, and meaningless non-information characterize "Philadelphia Empire Furniture" written by John W. Boor, Allison Boor, Jonathan Boor, Christopher Boor, and Peter Boor. At 592 pages, this is a huge book lavishly illustrated with photographs and drawings. Unfortunately, the photos aren't always the best, nor is the eye of the authors, since they show the same table (figures 136 and 137)in two captions - side by side, the veneer obviously identical, though the table in figure 136 was apparently French polished. Gosh ....... who knew!

I found page 88 to be especially disturbing - since so much of it made absolutely no sense at all. If there was a proof reader for the manuscript, they might consider a different occupation. The misspellings and improperly pluralised words are scattered throughout the volume - and lend a very amateurish note to a well intentioned book.

The chair in figure 156 is apparently mislabeled and incorrectly identified. Owned by the Museum of Arts and Sciences in Daytona Beach, Florida, it is illustrated in their book - "A Treasury of American Art" on page 87, where it is also mislabeled ..... as the work of Charles Honore Lannuier of New York City. In all probability, this chair is more likely to have come from the shop of John and Thomas Constantine of New York City. It follows closely the Speaker's Armchair made for the North Carolina State House around 1820.

As previously reviewed, the information contained in this book is essentially a rehash of known data compiled by recognized authorities in the field, and including, but not limited to Stuart Feld, Elizabeth Feld, Wendy Cooper, Robert Smith, Anthony Stuempfig, and Robert Trump. Nowhere is there any information which sheds new light on the objects illustrated, though many of the objects themselves are new to publication - and it certainly is helpful to have them arranged categorically for comparison purposes.

This is a "nice" picture book - and, for me, a must have for my library as a good illustrative reference, since I own most of the texts which contain all of the basic known material related to Classical America. If you are looking for an educational reference with solid information, I would purchase "Classical Taste in America, 1800-1840" by Wendy A. Cooper.