Appendix 10: Furniture Styles

As we study furniture, and as our knowledge increases-- many of us get the idea of reproducing various pieces -- furniture's qualities, strengths and detractions, become more familiar.

For a thorough history of the styles of furniture, it would require us to establish the background by sketching out much history, such as the temperament of the people, the wars, alliances and trade, all woven into the pageant of cabinetwork.

Events such as these indelibly imprint both the artistic and the practical development of the craft.

Furniture design mirrors social amenities -- or the lack of them --, fashions in dress, and the numerous other social customs that, together, make up a collage of a people's livelihood, era by era.

Architecture and the decorative arts are intimately related to a furniture, thus any study of furniture should be judged in relation to its architectural environment. However, with few exceptions, details about architecture are barely sketched out in the pages on this website

Finally, and perhaps most important, for a real understanding of furniture's rich variety of styles, essential is an awareness of the close relationship of furniture to the domestic life of a community. With such an understanding, then, the real pleasure of furniture comes from our intimate knowledge of these styles.

However, this webpage is just a guide, not intended be a comprehensive account. Moreover, consider it a "work in progress", a page that I intend upon revising and updating as both time and material become available. In the time being though, treat this page as a guide -- a rough outline -- for many of the furniture styles.

Woodworking Epochs

Two tables by Charles Harold Hayward, the renowned English author of woodworking manuals, are spot on in capturing how eras of furniture styles historically reflect of the state of the art of woodwdorking technology. One of the world's oldest artforms, woodworking has prevailed since everyman -- everyman is a term frequently used to designate the ordinary or typical human being -- first attempted to improve his lot on earth by producing objects designed to increase comfort and efficiency in a world sometimes inhospitable, sometimes fearsome, and sometimes dangerous. This everyman improved his everyday lot primarily by fashioning tools and other objects designed to create a means of making life on earth easier to contend with. On the upper left is a chart that sets out woodworking epochs from 1500 to 1900.

In a nutshell, historically between 1500 and 1900, men who construct furniture in the English-speaking world morph from "carpenters" to "cabinet-makers" to machine operators, topics covered in Chapters 1:4 and 1:5 respectively. (Click here for a discussion of the distinction between carpenters and cabinet-makers.) Notice that Hayward adds the concept "Designer" to his equation, an idea that didn't occur to me as a logical entity until I thought about it contextually. Classic components of furniture design, especially the cabriole leg of Daniel Marot (1700) on chairs and tables, the Windsor Chair's majestic hooped back, with elegant spindles and scooped anatomical seats (1740), or the durability suggested by the revealed construction in the exposed tenons of Arts and Crafts furniture -- it all starts with Pugin in the 1830s -- taken together, bespeak of a departure from the purely pragmatic traditions of design that prevail in ages before the Age of Enlightenment.

Recommended Sources for British Furniture History: Herbert Cescinsky and Victor Chinnery

Cescinsky and Chinnery are separated by several generations of scholarship. Cescinsky worked in the first half of the 20th century, and while Chinnery extends into the 21st. Chinnery is reviewed by Robert F. Trent -- who signs himself as a member of the Connecticut Historical Society in the "[review of] Oak Furniture, the British Tradition: A History of Early Furniture in the British Isles and New England by Victor Chinnery", Winterthur Portfolio 18, No. 2/3 (Summer - Autumn, 1983), pages 215-217, challenges some of Chinnery's claims, although Trent praises Chinnery's effort overall. Cescinsky's appraisals of furniture construction and methods of identifying authenticity and provenance -- he has authrored numerous books and articles on a wide range of furniture styles -- are not challenged by anyone that I can locate.

Victor Chinnery, a dealer in oak furniture, has penned a massive volume --

Victor Chinnery, Oak Furniture:The British Tradition, A History of Early Furniture in the British Isles and New England London: Antique Collectors' Club, 2002, selections from pages 142-144.

-- on the tradtions of oak as the wood furniture construction in Britain and in America, and in his discussions, covers topics such as techniques of rendering oak logs into boards using both quartering and straight sawing methods, pit sawing, coppicing as a method of nurturing the growth of oak trees, and when oak is replaced by walnut and mahogany. Click here for the passage .

Much of the material below also comes from a re-working of Marta K Sironen -- cited below. In turn, she acknowledges that she obtained much of this material and accompanying illustrations from Mr. George F. Clingman of Chicago, who kept records of the changes in furniture styles during the past 50 years.

More comes from Sir Gordon Russell and Charles J Hayward. In The Things We See: Furniture West Drayton, England: Penguin Books, 1947:

Russell briefly but insightfully sketches out several centuries of the major furniture design styles, emphasizing -- to a greater extent -- the Victorian, Arts and Crafts, and Modernist periods, stretching from the mid-1800s to the mid-1900s. His comments about the Post- WW I era are important for analyzing the sources of style, for what he claims about commercial styles slowly become featured in woodworker’s manuals.

British Arts and Crafts, 1888

Led by British designer-theorists-philosophers-architects, but notably William Morris, the Arts and Crafts Movement advocates a return to simplicity and functionalism in design and quality of materials and craftsmanship. In many respects, as a movement, much like Arts and Crafts in America, it is "transformational", in the sense it is a "lifestyle movement", not just a a popularization of arts and crafts style in furniture. Read More Here

Trends in America's Furniture History

America is a melting pot of people and ideas, a rapidly growing nation with immigrants, many of them cabinetmakers, craftsmen, artisans, who -- at the end of the 19th- and beginning of the 20th-century -- arrive in increasing numbers. American furniture styles evolve as cabinetmakers interpreted -- in their own way the styles popular since the 17th-century in France and England.

In America, aristocratic and formal styles slowly give way to furniture that is simpler, more democratic, in design and affordable to a growing middle class.

American Colonial Styles

On of my favorite authors of woodworker's manuals is John Gerald Shea; in the table below is his authoritative delineation of the stages of the "American Colonial Furniture Styles"

PREFACE "Colonial furniture" is in itself a misnomer. For there are at least three separate categories of colonial furniture, and two of these have little in common. First, there is the rudimentary, solid-wood furniture which the original settlers produced in this country during the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. Second, there are the ornate and sophisticated mahogany designs developed here during the post-settlement era of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. These two types of "colonial" have about as much affinity to each other as a primitive peg-leg stool has to a polished Chippendale chair. Yet, they are grouped together, willy-nilly, in books and catalogs and both are called "colonial furniture." In this book we are dealing primarily with the first category. (Some try to separate this by calling it "early American." But this, too, is a misnomer. Because in common usage, "early American" also embraces furniture of the post-settlement periods.) So, to establish some distinction, text reference is modified to read "early colonial." This signifies that the basic furniture designs shown here are first made by the American settlers during the early colonial period. There is, however, a third category of colonial furniture presented in this book. We call this "contemporary colonial." It includes the attractive new designs and adaptations which are based on, and inspired by, the 'early colonial style. Colonial furniture as it is produced and popularized in America today is largely of this third category. Sometimes there is only a remote relationship between these new designs of "contemporary colonial" and the antiques which inspired their development. Nevertheless, the honest appeal of solid-wood construction and details of fine craftsmanship still prevail. The beautiful old scrolls and authentic shapes of wood turning also have been retained to distinguish today's colonial. Most modifications of the original designs have been made with -reason and good taste. For as much as we may love this traditional furniture style as it is originally made, antiques do not meet all the needs of our homes of today. Source: John Gerald Shea,Colonial Furniture Making for Everybody Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1964, page v.

American Post-Colonial Styles

Neoclassical Period 1790 - 1840

The Neoclassical Period of American furniture took its design characteristics from the classic Greek and Roman forms discovered by archaeologists in the eighteenth century, as well as Egyptian forms discovered due to Napoleon's expeditions to Egypt between 1798 and 1801. There is a new lightness and straightness of line that predominated early neoclassical furniture. Such motifs as acanthus leaves, shells, architectural pediments, classical figures, fluted or square tapered legs, festoons and swags, caryatid supports and parterre are incorporated in subtle ways.

As time went on, a new, more three-dimensional interpretation of the classical replaced the earlier, more two-dimensional style. This became the Empire Style, described later.

The third stage of the Neoclassical Period is the Pillar and Scroll, which developed out of the Empire style. It is marked by simple, classical but massive pillars and scrolls with little ornamentation. Throughout all stages of the Neoclassical Period, mahogany is the primary wood used.

After the Civil War, an economic decline also meant a decline in furniture manufacture. As the country re-established its finances and industries, a demand is restored for new furniture, but for styles different than those styles popular before Emancipation Proclamation. "Having the machine to contend with", argues Marta K. Sironen, "the furniture designer did not feel as much at liberty to use his own creativeness as did the masters of the Eighteenth century". Because designers needed "to think of manufacture in quantity, … many intricate and beautiful designs and embellishments … did not adapt … to the machine".

Among the types or styles of furniture which alternately lived and died during this period with their approximate dates are:

FEDERAL PERIOD 1790 - 1815

Federal period furniture is a neoclassical style which developed after the American Revolution. The colonies became a federation of states, so its furniture is called Federal rather than Colonial. Furniture of this period, as exemplified by English makers Hepple white and Sheraton, is light and slender, with clean lines and delicate moldings, or none at all. Legs are straight; flat surfaces are decorated with inlay or painting, or are veneered to highlight the beauty of the wood grain. Mahogany is generally finished lighter in color. String inlay is used, as well as inlaid fans or shells. Handles are delicate; ornament is restrained, and based on classical Greek and Roman motifs.

American craftsmen added their own individuality to Federal pieces, choosing their own style characteristics from the neoclassic styles of England.

EMPIRE PERIOD 1815 - 1840

First developed in France from the design of magnificent and monumental surroundings for Napoleon, the Empire style is heavy and monumental. It is characterized by large mahogany surfaces, a thickening of legs and pillars, and the use of carved acanthus leaves, with spiral twist or fluted columns. Other features of this period included the use of crotch mahogany veneer, brass or bronze ormolu mounts, Greek-curved legs with knee projections, lion paws, carved pineapples, multiple sections in pillars and posts, and painted or stenciled imitations of metal ornaments. There is an increased use of marble, mirrors and Egyptian detail (sphinxes, women). The platform base is used in addition to the pillar and tripod.

American Victorian: 1865-1880

The Victorian Age itself, 1840 - 1900, matches the long reign of Queen Victoria. Victoria became queen of England in 1837 and reigned until her death in 1901.

The age named after her is a period when England is at the height of power and prestige. In furniture, the Victorian Age included a variety of revival styles and sub styles that typified most nineteenth century furniture. There is no one Victorian style, and despite being named the Victorian Era, French, rather than English influence is actually stronger on American and European furniture design.

In general appearance, including structural and decorative details, American Victorian furniture is patterned after Victorisn styles in England.

Composed of a series of spool-like turnings -- which formed the legs of beds (the principal piece in this style) as well as the head and foot-boards -- spool furniture had one primary structural/decorative theme. Heavy, with a generous use of straight lines, it used curved lines only in the decorations. Much of this furniture is made of black walnut. Tables, washstands, dresser tops and pedestals are covered with marble. Beds had high head and foot boards. Dressers, which  often reached near the ceiling, often included long beveled-edged mirrors.

Victorian furniture in America, as well as that of abroad could scarcely fit into our modern rooms” note Sironen. "In fact, one Victorian bed would very nearly fill a moderate sized living room in some of our bungalow and apartment homes".

NEO-GOTHIC REVIVAL PERIOD 1830s - 1870s

Said to be the first truly "Victorian" style in England -- arriving around 1830.

The Neo-gothic Revival Period, as the label suggests, adapts Gothic architectural form and ornament to early 19th Century furniture forms. Neo-Gothic design -- styles popular in the medieval era --  features dark woods, pointed arches, trefoils (a shape similar to three-leaf clover) and other Gothic cathedral carvings, intentionally an echo of dedicated medieval craftsman, and said to imply moral character. (The architects,  Augustus Pugin and his father, used Gothic motifs in designing London’s Houses of Parliament.)

For inspiration, English designers go back to the Middle Ages. Gothic style is marked by the use of trefoils, quatrefoils, crockets and pinnacles, cluster columns, and pointed arches. The wood used are rosewood,  walnut and oak.

ROCOCO REVIVAL PERIOD 1840 - 1860

Also known as "French Antique", this period is influenced by the revival of the rococo style by the French. Pieces are intricate, with asymmetrical scrolls, curves and lavish carvings of cornucopias, fruits, birds, flowers and foliage. Furniture is of a more vigorous construction, and features the use of carved ornament as well as a process developed by John Henry Belter of laminating thin sheets of rosewood which are molded by heat into desired shapes and then lavishly carved. While rosewood is primarily used, mahogany and black walnut are sometimes employed as well. Satinwood and birds-eye maple are occasionally used as secondary woods. The use of white or variegated marble is popular for top surfaces.

The Rococo Revival Period produce parlor suites of padded, curved back chairs and matching settees, often with elaborate upholstery and carvings. The center table, frequently with a shaped marble top and elaborate base and apron, becomes important as a focal point of parlors.

RENAISSANCE REVIVAL PERIOD 1860 -1875

French influence introduces the appearance of the massive forms and more rectangular construction of the Renaissance Revival Period in America.

Furniture of this period typically features straighter lines, with arched tops, broken pediments and prominent cresting. Black walnut is the favored wood. Burl walnut panels and applied machine-carved moldings and ornament are used in place of the hand carvings of the French Renaissance models.

Other important features of this period include inlaid table tops, incised lines, angular scrolls and pilasters, fancy columns, colonnettes, Pompeian style legs, roundels, portrait medallions, and bronze or porcelain mounts.

EASTLAKE PERIOD 1875 - 1885

Eastlake style -- named after Britiain's Sir Charles Lock Eastlake -- which developed after Eastlake published his 1879 book, Hints on Household Taste. A believer in new forms from old ideas, the Eastlake incorporates the Medieval, with a feeling of Gothic.

Eastlake's book greatly influenced American furniture design:-- by 1881 six editions are published.

Eastlake style typically featured simple, rectilinear construction, with no excessive curves. Furniture is generally of walnut, with panels of slats or lath, chamfered and serrated edges, chip carving, incised lines, and sparse inlaid details. Ebonized wood is featured in some pieces. Other woods used included mahogany, cherry, oak, ash, maple, etc. Legs, supports and posts are either turned or square, and are straight and heavy. Supporting leg sections are often flat. Tile ornament, finials and wrought metal mounts are other details used in Eastlake style furniture. Small brackets, shelves and carvings became popular during this time.

Eastlake style furniture is made by many factories and a large number of pieces called "Eastlake" do not deserve to be called by that name. Made of cherry, for the most part, Eastlake furniture is often decorated with ornately embellished panels. - The lines are straight td the feet are mostly block being a continuation of the side.

Sources: Mary Jean Smith Madigan, "The Influence of Charles Locke Eastlake on American Furniture Manufacture, 1870–90," Winterthur Portfolio 10 1975, pp. 1–22; Michael J. Ettema, "Technological Innovation and Design Economics in Furniture Manufacture", Winterthur Portfolio 16, No. 2/3, Summer-Autumn, 1981, pages 197-223.

The indication and implication of a new design aesthetic, in the form of the arts and crafts movement is articulated in a 1904 Popular Science Monthly article by Frank T Carlton, Professor at the Toledo University School:

... arts and crafts movement,  …  a protest against and a reaction from the minute division of labor now employed in manu­facture, and the stripping of the artistic features from industry…. aims to give dignity to the worker, and to teach that all should be workers… The arts and crafts movement needs educated producers and con­sumers. The task is a double one; the workers must be trained to produce good work, and the taste of all consumers must be educated so that they will demand good articles. Shorter hours and the right use of leisure will give an impetus to the demand for better qualities of goods; and thus variety and handicraftsmanship will to some extent replace interchangeability and machine production.

(I haven't personally examined these references: For American editions of Eastlake's Hints on Household Taste, see Henry-Russell Hitchcock, American Architectural Books [no preview available], 2d ed. with introduction by Adolf K. Placzek and appendix by William H. Jordy (New York: DaCapo Press, 1976), page 36; for direct references to Eastlake's concepts and to Morris's book, see Donald G. Mitchell, "From Lobby to Peak", Our Continent, May 17, 1882 , page. 217. Mitchell’s series “From Lobby to Peak” includes numerous allusions to Eastlake ’s concepts. See February 15, 1882, p. 5; February 22, 1882, p. 21; March 1, 1882, p. 37; March 15, 1882, p. 69; March 22, 1882, p. 85; March 29, 1882, p. 101; April 12, 1882, p. 132; April 19, 1882, p. 148; and May 3, 1882, p. 185. For Tiffany’s association with Mitchell on the articles, see Mitchell-Tiffany Family Papers, Sterling Memorial Library, Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University , New Haven , Connecticut.

L'Art Nouveau

L'Art Nouveau is a composite style embracing the English, French and Japanese methods of ornamentation and construction- It is a departure from all the then existing styles and is pure in the interpretation of artistic motifs. The designer took as his decorative themes, the growing plant, the root, the stalk and the crisp leaves. The flowers are invariably inlaid in wood mosaic, each shade and coloring being of a different natural wood- L'Art Nouveau suffered like many of the later furniture designs in the transferring of the design into inferior makes of furniture and lived a short, but when correctly executed, beautiful life.

Turn-of-the-Century, 1890-1900

The Turn-of-the-Century is a period that incorporated all styles. Every conceivable style, from carved figural to Art Nouveau, is available. There is still a quality of construction typical of American cabinetmakers. Primary woods used are oak, mahogany, cherry, maple and walnut.

Empire Revival, with Romanesque decorations, 1892

The attempted revival of French Empire about 1892 produced some excellent craftsmanship. In structure, they resembled the French Empire, perhaps leaning toward a Romanesque ornamentation- The mounts are gold instead of brass. The impetus for Romanesque design came from homes designed by the Boston architect, Henry Hobson Richardson .

American Arts and Crafts 1895 - 1915

The Arts Crafts Movement emphasizes form and structure rather than surface decoration.

(As a "movement", it is more probably precise to include the adjective "lifestyle", to make the term read, "lifestyle movement". )

Functional forms are often joined by hand in mortise and tenon fashion, and many of the joints are revealed. A simplicity, rectilinearity, squareness and symmetry prevails in the furniture of this period. The predominant wood used is quartersawn oak, but mahogany is also used. Important designers-craftsmen of the time include Gustav Stickley, L. & J. G. Stickley, Greene & Greene, Roycroft, Limbert and many others. Read More Here .

Mission, 1895 and Later

Mission furniture -- invariably made of oak -- had no decoration. Mission furniture came from a discovery of furniture --  massive square frames and coarse rush bottom seats  -- found in southern California . Mission included tables, desks, chairs and other  pieces. "It was an unconventional style for unconventional people".  

Speculation suggests that  the Spanish priests who ventured to establish the Church in the Southwest wildernesses of North America brought no furniture with them, for they knew that they would  be forced to undergo long treks over rough terrain, endure  hardships, like locating food supplies, and  struggle to gain a livelihood.

According to legend, the "idea" about this rote for the source of mission comes through a Joseph McHugh, responding to a chair sent east from a California mission in 1894. It, according to claim, was one of many similar design found in the monasteries of the West in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and is said to be a refinement of cruder designs that trace back to the sixteenth century.

The legs of the chairs and tables are uncompromisingly straight and the backs are formed of two of three unadorned slats. The legs are tied together with stretchers, and the feet are simply a continuation of the leg, ending abruptly. Later pieces had wooden seats- Rockers are frequently made in this style.

Ford claims that Mission is perhaps "best be described as the beginning of commercially made furniture'." Mission furniture soon gained popularity and enjoyed a longer life than any of the others. After Victorian and other similarly over-embellished styles, America had a turn toward the simple lines and consequently Mission furniture is manufactured in great quantities and is principally made of oak. In fact, Mission furniture has not yet lost its favor, and we find many factories still making suites in this style and selling them in considerable numbers.

However, the monks carried memories of the ecclesiastical and household furniture used in contemporary Spain , and they fashioned the furniture for the missions along the lines which their memories dictated. They used any woods which wore at hand and worked them with very crude tools. This early furniture is built on simple, square lines, and had a definitely utilitarian character. Any ornament used is ecelesiastical. The sixteenth century mission furniture is full of quaint charm, and possessed the artistic merits of suitability to its use and surroundings. 

The furniture produced in the style in the East and the Middle West in the nineties followed the lines of the old work (Fig. 27 b and c). The frames are simple, square, and massive. The legs are straight and square, and terminated at the lower extremity without differentiation as to the feet. The legs are always tied together with stretchers. he backs are usually straight without rake. The earliest of the modern chairs had rush seats, but by 1900 they had been replaced by )plain wood, and soon after leather cushions are added. This furniture is devoid of all ornament. It is always made of oak, and is usually darkened either by fuming or staining.

Mission design became popular after 1894, and quickly became a "rage" . As in other fashions, the first pieces mode are all more or loss expensive, but soon it is produced in moderately priced goods.  Mission furniture was not featured in Montgomery Ward catalogs until 1905, says Ford, but four later that it is offered in any considerable variety. Fig. 2 7 a- Ancient chairs from Zuni , Mexico . From Hunter, Decorative Furniture. b- Library table, from Kimerly. c- Davenport with loose cushions, from Kimerly

Later interpretations of the style are less attractive than the earlier. "Most of the charm derived from the ancient Spanish-American work had been lost" because of over-production  At the close of WW I, in 1918, "people were tired of the Mission and considered it too heavy and clumsy for general home use. However, 1930 found it still much liked for the furnishing of country houses and for porches, and suites are being made in considerable numbers" 

Mission is the outstanding American furniture fashion for about twenty years. It is never followed in Europe . Together with the Craftsman furniture  which it helped to inspire, it pushed the last remnants of Gothic and Eastlake furniture from American homes and paved the way for the revival of Georgian styles and the Ultra Modern.

 

 

 

 

Sources:  Alwyn T. Covell, "The Real Place of MissionFurniture", Alwyn T. Covell, "The Real Place of Mission Furniture," Good Furniture, IV, vi (March] 1915), page 359-362 (accompanied with four high-quality full page photos of rooms of the period, this article also includes an account of Joseph P. McHugh's 1894 role in introducing "Mission" furniture.) Sironen; Marjorie Bacon Ford,  Style Cycles in American Furniture, 1830-1930.  Thesis, University of Chicago , 1930; John Freeman Crosby, Forgotten Rebel: Gustav Stickley and His Craftsman Mission Furniture New York: Century House, 1965. (Not available online, and published as the second Arts and Crafts movement emerged in America, Crosby's book is a retropective effort in disclosing the rise and decline of Gustav Stickley's promotion of the original American Arts and Crafts movement.)

Golden Oak,1900-1910

The Golden Oak furniture is -- as the name suggests -- given a finish to make pieces look bright and "sunny". The pieces in this style are made primarily for either the dining room or bedroom. Decorative themes are not added to the heaviness; instead, for decoration, applied ornamentation (embossments, stampings, carvings) are used, but its basic style  depends the wood's color. The dining-room tables are round, supported by a single heavy pedestal, the buffets large, often with large mirror at the top, the chairs with backs with central splats, and plain or scooped-out wood seats.

Source: Jeffrey Weiss and Herbert H. Wise, Made With Oak New York: Links, 1975.

Modernist (Or Modern)

These terms designate the clean, functional, modern look that emerged in the Bauhaus and elsewhere between World War I and World War II. To some, it is "rectilinear, with soft curves".

Art Deco, 1910-1930

"The last great period of French cabinetmaking and craftsmanship in which surface ornament is stressed," The style peaked a 1925 when the Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs a lndustriels Modernes Paris . "Design sources are wide-ranging and include a pastiche of neoclassical elements," writes Rita Reif in a 1980 NYT article, "echoing French 18th century and Louis Phillipe styles. Other influences include Cubism for shapes shapes and Fauvism for colors.

Art Moderne: 1930-1940

A term used to designate the pared down, tradition-oriented style that surfaced in America in the 1930s, merging some elements of the Art Deco style with the Bauhaus

Bauhaus: 1920s

The German design school founded by Walter Gropius at Weimar , and later moved to Dessau , produced austere chromed metal and lacquered wood furniture, lighting, textiles, photography and everyday objects in which function controlled structure. These designs of Mies van der Rohe, Marcel Breuer and others are now considered the modernist style.

Colonial Revival

see entry, Colonial Revival 

Sources:

(This list is idiosyncratic, definitely not intended to be either comprehensive, nor “authoritative”; instead, this list is driven by my notions of what interests amateur woodworkers in the types of styles, models, etc., they choose for creating furniture] J. Newton Nind and Gustav Stickley The Furniture Styles 1909  requested ILL 3-2-07; Marta K Sironen, "Annotated Bibliography of Furniture Books", "Bibliography of Furniture Books (Listed According to Subject Matter)", and list of European and American "furniture craftsmen, architects, and artisans of the twentieth century, with brief biography" Manual of the Furniture Arts and Crafts, compiled by Axel Petrus Johnson and Marta K. Sironen; edited by William J Etten Grand Rapids, MI: A. P. Johnson, 1928, pages 685-745; 745-780; 661-682; Gordon Russell The Things We See: Furniture 3 Penguin, 1947; Joseph Aronson, Encyclopedia of Furniture New York: Crown, 1938; Louise Ade Boger, The Complete Guide to Furniture Styles New York: Scribner's,1959, 1969, )