Overview

Drawing on the latest scholarship, this comprehensive, lavishly illustrated survey tells the story of the evolution of American furniture from the 17th century to the present. Not viewed in isolation, furniture is placed in its broader cultural, historic, and aesthetic context. The focus is not only on the urban masterpieces of 18th century William and Mary, Queen Anne, Chippendale, and Federal styles but also on the work of numerous rural cabinetmakers. Special chapters explore Windsor chairs, Shaker, and Pennsylvania German furniture which do not follow the mainstream style progression. Picturesque and anti-classical explain Victorian furniture including Rococo, Renaissance, and Eastlake. Mission and Arts and Crafts furniture introduce the 20th century. Another chapter identifies the eclectic revivals such as Early American that dominated the mass market throughout much of the 20th century. After World War II American designers created many of the Mid-Century Modern icons that are much sought after by collectors today. The rise of studio furniture and furniture as art which include some of the most creative and imaginative furniture produced in the 20th and 21st centuries caps the review of four centuries of American furniture. A final chapter advises on how to evaluate the authenticity of both traditional and modern furniture and how to preserve it for posterity. With over 800 photos including 24 pages of color, this fully illustrated text is the authoritative reference work.

Full Product Details

9781442270381

Table of Contents

Reviews

Anyone with an interest in furniture, past or present, owes a debt to Oscar Fitzgerald for this magnificent and comprehensive survey. He has put the entire story of American furniture between two covers for the first time, and has done so with commendable intelligence. Drawing from a wealth of recent scholarship, and ranging across an incredible span - urban and rural, north south east and west, expensive and everyday - this book immediately takes its place as an indispensable reference work, not to mention a most enjoyable read. -- Glenn Adamson, Senior Scholar, Yale Center for British Art

Anyone with an interest in furniture, past or present, owes a debt to Oscar Fitzgerald for this magnificent and comprehensive survey. He has put the entire story of American furniture between two covers for the first time, and has done so with commendable intelligence. Drawing from a wealth of recent scholarship, and ranging across an incredible span - urban and rural, north south east and west, expensive and everyday - this book immediately takes its place as an indispensable reference work, not to mention a most enjoyable read. -- Glenn Adamson, Senior Scholar, Yale Center for British Art In American Furniture: 1650 to the Present Oscar Fitzgerald offers a long-needed, sweeping look at the history of American furniture. Deftly balancing high style and vernacular examples, 17th century and contemporary work, and small shop and factory production, Fitzgerald provides a comprehensive examination of the context, materials, styles, and forms of American furniture in a single volume. This volume will immediately prove invaluable to collectors and students alike, dispensing with the chronological or regional subdivisions that characterize the field and encouraging readers to embrace the full measure of American furniture. -- Edward S. Cooke, Charles F. Montgomery Professor, Department of the History of Art, Yale University

Author Information

Oscar P. Fitzgerald is a nationally known historian, author, lecturer, and consultant on American furniture from colonial times to the present. He retired as the director of the Navy Museum in Washington, DC and curator of Tingey House, to pursue full time his first love which is the history of furniture from antique to modern. As a member of the faculty of the Smithsonian Institution/George Washington University Master's program in Decorative Arts & Design History he teaches all the furniture classes. As a decorative arts consultant, he advises on the furniture collections of a number of historic houses including the Frederick Douglass House, the Clara Barton National Historic Site, and the Custis-Lee Mansion. His publication range from a study of The Green Family of Cabinetmakers: An Alexandria Institution (of the Mercy Street TV series fame) to the catalog of the studio furniture at the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available