Art and Architecture Collection > Decorative Arts: A Research Guide

Furniture

General

Aronson, Joseph. The Encyclopedia of Furniture. 3rd ed. New York: Crown Publ., 1965.
2500 alphabetically arranged short entries on world furniture, from antiquity to the early modernist period. Longer essays on major countries, types of furniture and styles. Many black-and-white illustrations. "Glossary of Designers and Craftsmen" in back of volume.

Blakemore, Robbie. G. History of Interior Design & Furniture: From Ancient Egypt to Nineteenth-century Europe. Hoboken, NJ: J. Wiley & Sons, 2006.
Broad survey history with good line drawing illustrations. Excellent coverage of 17th through 19th century styles.

Boger, Louise Ade. The Complete Guide to Furniture Styles. New York: Charles Scribner's, 1959.
Broad survey history organized by historical period with subdivisions for geographic coverage and specific styles: e.g. Louis XIV, Empire, French Provincial, Chippendale, American Colonial, and Federal. Text followed by black and white plates of over 500 objects, bibliography on pp. 423-429.

Edwards, Clive. Encyclopedia of Furniture Materials, Trades, and Techniques. Brookfield, VT: Ashgate Pub., 2000.
Scholarly essay style entries with good cross-references to related terms, including useful black and white illustrations and some bibliographic citations.

Fiell, Charlotte and Peter Fiell. 1000 Chairs. Köln; New York: Taschen, 1997.

A clear-cut visual survey history, with concise text, that covers the history of chair design in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Lockwood, Luke Vincent. The Furniture Collectors’ Glossary. New York: Da Capo Press, 1967.
Alphabetical list of terms for forms, functions, decoration, major figures and styles. Line drawing illustrations.

Piña, Leslie. Furniture in History, 3000 B.C.- 2000 A.D. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2003.
A survey which effectively highlights the highlights of historical periods, with emphasis on hand crafting versus industrial design.

World Furniture: An Illustrated History. Edited by Helena Hayward. New York: McGraw Hill, 1965.
Profusely illustrated, much of it in color, this historical survey is arranged by time period, then subdivided by country or geographical region. Provides quick visual overview of national styles and their development, broadly treating works in terms of their historical evolution.