Furniture Design and Designers

[Done correctly, this entry will be extensive. In the interval, I will simply list some of the books that I own personally.]

The Buffalo (NY) Architecture and History website dedicates extensive pages to definitions (with examples) of furniture design.

1762: Thomas Chippendale. The Gentleman and Cabinet Maker's Director

Click here for access to full reprint of Chippendale's 1762 style book with 200 plates plus 24 photos and links to websites celebrating Chippendale's influence.

1762: William Ince and John Mayhew. Authentic Georgian Furniture Designs: Universal System of Household Furniture, 1762 Over 300 finely engraved designs for parlor chairs, claw tables, sideboards, desks, bookcases, writing tables, candlestands, couches, and much more. A magnificent sourcebook for antique collectors, craftworkers, artists, and cultural historians.

1794: George Hepplewhite. The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer’s Guide. 1794 stylebook illustrating 300 different chairs, beds, side boards, etc. 128 plates. eb 1911 on hepplewhite http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/H/HE/HEPPLEWHITE_GEORGE.htm

1853: Blackie & Son. Victorian Cabinet-Maker’s Assistant . British style book (1853) includes full text, 116 figures and 100 plates.

Original Date? Clement Meadmore.The Modern Chair: Classic Designs by Thonet, Breuer, Le Corbusier, Eames and Others 192 Pages ISBN: 0486298078

A noted furniture designer discusses functional and aesthetic elements of more than 40 "classic" modern chairs. Profusely illustrated with photographs and explanatory drawings. More than 40 "classic" modern chairs, illustrated and discussed by a noted furniture designer, exemplify the marriage of practicality and aesthetics. Thonet’s Bentwood armchair, Breuer’s Wassily chair, van der Rohe’s Barcelona chair, and many others are depicted in photographs and explanatory drawings.

Original Date? Thomas Sheraton. Classical Revival Furniture Designs (The Cabinet Maker and Upholsterer’s Drawing. Definitive selection of important plates from several editions showing all aspects of elegant style. 97 plates. article in eb 1911 on sheraton http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/S/SH/SHERATON_THOMAS.htm

1829 Thomas King. Neo-Classical Furniture Designs: A Reprint of Thomas King's "Modern Style of Cabinet Work...ISBN: 0486282899

1931: Franklin H. Gottshall. Simple Colonial Furniture: Building Your Own Family Heirlooms. Bonanza Books, 1931.

In 1931, "simple" to Gottshall would definitely not be simple to the craftsman in the home shop. For example, on pages 36-37, Gottshall describes for the homecraftsman that the "construction" of the paneled chest is "self-evident from a study of the drawing". Study of the drawing shows an attractive chest, yes, but the more you study it, the more you're convinced that it is NOT simple!

1937: Franklin H. Gottshall. How to Design Period Furniture, Milwaukee: Bruce Publishing Co.

1947: Marguerite Smith. Modern Design in American Domestic Furniture, 1925-1945. [thesis] Chicago: Univerisity of Chicago, 1947

1968: Charles H. Hayward,  English Period Furniture Designs New York: Arco, 1968

1978: Alonzo W. Kettles,  P. Designs for wood. NY, Prentice Hall. 1978. (ISBN: 0684155419)

1997: Graves, Garth. The Woodworker's Guide to Furniture Design (1997).

1998: Bill Hylton. How to Design and Construct Furniture That Works. Rodale Press 1998.

1990: Norman Vandal. Queen Anne Furniture: History Design and Construction.  (Reprinted by Lee Valley in 2006.) check amazon

2001: In the Craftsman Style: Building Furniture Inspired by the Arts and Crafts Tradition, edited by Fine Woodworking, Taunton Press Inc.,U.S., released: July 30, 2001. isbn: 2002: Mario Livio. The Golden Ratio (2002) [I don't own this book yet -- simply taken by its title]

Furniture Styles: click on this link to go to Appendix 10, for an extended treatment of Furniture Styles