A fascinating history of furniture and decoration written in a pleasant and often amusing conversational style. Recognizing that most readers are looking for inspiration and design help and not a history lesson, the in-depth inquiry begins "at the point at which rooms began to assume a form faintly comparable to that of today. . . specialized, deliberate, purposeful". For the purposes of this book five major distinctive movements are explored:
- The Gothic - an epoch of church domination
- The Renaissance - period of political growth
- Baroque or Rococo and Classical Revival - Both appendages of the Renaissance but at odds to its objective
- Modern - the epoch of industrial domination which began with the Industrial Revolution
These movements are followed in Italy, Spain, France, England and America. Lovely photos and sketches of interiors and furniture accompanied with really interesting text about how things developed the way the did. SEE photos of Contents Page for details. For instance, did you know that mahogany was a New World wood that was originally brought to England for medicinal purposes? It was brought to England as a substitute for cinchona bark from which quinine is extracted. It was too hard to be made into furniture with the standard tools and special ones had to be developed. Truly scads of decorating lore that will deepen your knowledge impress your friends!
Because it was written in the 30s, the most impressive part of the book concerns the Modern era, specifically the 20s, 30s, 40s and Art Deco periods. Unlike the subsequent fifties Modern, there are many glamorous and luxurious touches to be seen -velvet fabrics, tufted seating, dramatic lighting Hollywood style. In these photos I could easily imagine Bette Davis, Joan Crawford or Barbara Stanwick seductively posing in a Film Noir Classic.
Some of the architects and designers seen here are Alvar Aalto, Josef Hoffman, Hepplewhite, Biedermeier, Harwell Hamilton Harris, Gilbert Rohde, Edward Stone, Richard Neutra, William Lescaze, Frank Lloyd Wright, Robsjohn-Gibbings, William Muschenheim, Paul Laszlo, Aleaxnder Girard, Collier's House of Ideas, Sylvia Holt, C. Coggeshall, and more.
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Thank you all and happy ebaying!
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VTG 30s Bk ART DECO Interior Decor MACHINE AGE MODERNE 
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