Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #106411 in Books
• Published on: 2008-07-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 240 pages

Synopsis
Examines the history and influences of arts and crafts furniture, from the foundation of the movement to the present, and includes illustrated examples of the style.

Customer Reviews

A Maker's View of Arts & Crafts Furniture
One author, Kevin Rodel, is a furniture maker, specialising in the Arts & Crafts style (as am I). Fortunately, dovetails and through tenons are almost absent from the book (p. 125 being the exception). Instead, Rodel and Binzen's text betrays the sharpest designers' eyes I've seen in the copious literature on the movement. Seeing Charles Limbert's cafe chair next to one of Charles Mackintosh's Willow Tea Room chairs was an eye opener, but couldn't prepare me for seeing the well-known Ellis inlay on Gustav Stickley's 1902-03 furniture next to a Mackintosh linen press of 1895: "a direct translation of custom hardware" (p. 100).
. Much of the structure of the book rests on places and individual designers, including some of the least known, such as John Scott Bradstreet or George Mann Niedecken. Although the book is almost half European and half American in content, it feels much more American, which is a bit of a shame, since American Arts & Crafts furniture has a surfeit of commentators. And here, too, the authors score. So much mission style commentary is utterly derivative, but not only do these authors write their own words, they have plenty of thoughts on subjects rarely discussed, such as the role of factory production and "cashing in" on a fashion.
. An unsung hero here is Randy O'Rourke, who gets the bulk of the photo credits. And what a collection of well-reproduced images! I'm usually a bit blase about yet another set of luxurious snaps of the mission style. But the authors have chosen many unusual suspects (mostly gorgeous, occasionally hideous). The fabulous but anonymous plate rack of p. 135 alone has given me four separate ideas for future work.
. This is a good book.