Furniture Books

This is a great book for ideas, but if you think that patterns are included to make the furniture, they aren't. Otherwise it is a nice book to have if you are into miniatures.

Simple projects, but nothing groundbreaking that isn't available elsewhere.

One must first be able to get past the problems that this is an old book with out of date values and poorly focused, washed-out photography. But its value lies in the fact that there are very few books on this subject and it has some pieces and color variations not found elsewhere.

First of all I would like to say that this book is not intended to be a how-to manual of furniture plans, but rather a look into one company's past catalog during a great movement in American furniture.

The book is broken into three sections: 'Introduction', 'Saleman's Catalog', and 'Retail Plates'. The introduction includes some basic background on the importance of the Stickleys to the Arts and Crafts furniture movement. The salesman's catalog section contains a vintage price list as well as some rare black and white photographs and many sketch drawings of Stickley pieces (probably useful back then to the salesman trying to come up with just the right piece to satisfy a demanding customer). The retail plates are a collection of more intricate drawings of the Stickley furniture. These drawings are more detailed and often give basic dimentions of the furniture and a listing of the type of wood/materials found in the piece.

I have found the 260 illustrations of early Stickly furniture contained in this book to be an interesting history lesson as well as a useful tool for generating ideas in furniture design. If you are like me and really love the Arts and Crafts style, buy this book and learn more about the wide range of furniture offered by the premiere company to build it in the Unites States.

I ordered through Woodworkers Supply as a previous rater suggested. I got both Early New Mexican Furniture and Classic New Mexican Furniture for $21.27 including shipping. The book consists of photos of furniture from private and mueseum collections. It also includes a mechanical drawing including incomplete dimentions. And a small section on how to carve some of the details. Both the detail work and the dimensions are imcomplete. The dimentions are mostly complete just missing on some tapered pieces. There are no instructions for jointery technique nor any imformation on where or how to aquire hardware. Still the pictures allow an advanced woodworker enough information to craft near copies of the furniture.

If you enjoy American Oak Furniture, this brand new, year 2000 book is for you. It contains 400 pages, loaded with more than 1,500 large black and white photos. It covers the period from the late 1880s through the early 1900s. Its contents are interestingly arranged according to room. It takes you through the Entry Hall, Living Room, Dining Room, Kitchen, Children's Room, Library, Bedroom and then covers Chairs and Benches, Accessories, Mission Furniture, and more. Each room is provided with sufficient interesting and useful information. There's a chapter on the Hearty Oaks and Look Alikes, as well as a complete index and glossary. Up-To-Date prices are provided. Virtually every type of furniture from this period is included. A valuable resource for American Oak Furniture enthusiasts.

The Encyclopedia of Furniture by Simon Yates, Constance King, and Mark Bridge is a wealth of information in a very readable information in a very readable format. It is laid out in sections by centuries with an introduction discussing the development of style of four major types of pieces- chairs, sofas, tables and desks. This information is conveyed by individual pieces of furniture noted with color photos, full descriptions including date, style, descriptions, materials used, and the name of the maker, if known. Enlightening details are given with these photos. Here are some examples: "Two other distinct Boston characteristics are the decorations on the knees of the cabriole legs and Rococo style made with a punch rather than carved with a chisel and the rat-claw feet, broadened to look more like a rat's paw than a lion's." With over 1000 illustrated pieces, this would be a good addition to your library.

The book is filled with page after page of pictures of English country funiture. Every type of furniture is covered: beds, tables, washstands, clocks, chairs (lots of chairs), desks, cupboards, sideboards, hutches and lots of other miscellany. The examples are many and they give an excellent feel of the variety and quality of furniture from this period/area.

Most of the photos have a brief description which usually includes the type of wood(s) used and some text that puts the piece in context. All of the photos show the date and location of manufacture.

The text has a great discussion on construction (dovetails, nails, etc.) but the discussion is general; rarely is there a discussion of joinery techniques regarding a specific piece.

Most of the photos are black and white (>80%) with four sections of color plates. There is only one photo of each piece, which is a shame for pieces that have interiors, such as cupboards and sideboards

This book gets only four stars because dimensions are not given for any of the furniture. I really wish that dimensions were provided to give a sense of scale.

I want to know what the style be? I'm interior architecture

Written in an easy going style this book is a good introduction to the vernacular of the windsor chair. Readers may find that their curiosity about the subject is increased somewhat because of this book.