No comments about Classical Chinese Furniture in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.

No comments about 1772 Philadelphia Furniture Price Book: A Facsimile (Primary Sources in American Art).

5 comments about Chinese Country Antiques: Vernacular Furniture and Accessories, C. 1780-1920.

1. With regard to furniture, the McCormick's state: "China gets under your skin." How true that is. Their book provides a wonderful coffee table reference for the collector or designer. The selection of pieces photographed is a fantastic representation of the vernacular furniture and accessories China has to offer. Their book also provides interesting information about the amazing background of these pieces since the Qing period.



2. This book creates appreciation for the type of Chinese furniture and accessories that are both within financial reach and that work with today's lifestyles. The author has revealed a well kept secret. It's beautiful. It's informative. It's a must read for anyone interested in history and/or the decorative arts. One of the best books of its kind.



3. The images are very nice and well photographed, however as a work of scholarship it is flawed. There are a large number of datelines that are so clearly wrong as to question the authors expertise. I won't bore you with a image by image critique but suffice to say that there are better books on the market such as Friends of the House or Kai Yin Lo's book on Vernacular furniture all of which are real works of quality. As for the price guides included in the book, how helpful is it to give a ...[broad] price range... for a piece of furniture without explaining why one will be the lower price the other the more expensive.



4. In Chinese Country Antiques: Vernacular Furniture And Accessories, c. 1780-1920, Andrea and Lynde McCormick successfully collaborate to offer a comprehensive, authoritative, reader friendly survey of antiquarian Chinese furniture. Profusely illustrated with hundreds of full color photographs, there are chapters devoted to provenance, finishes, fakes, cabinets, chairs and stools, tables, and accessories. Of special note are the chapters on fakes, and accessories. A highly recommended and beautifully presented introduction to Chinese antiques for the novice collector or student, Chinese Country Antiques is further enhanced with an informative appendix on "Woods" and a brief bibliography for further, more specialized or detailed study.



5. With all the fuss about Ming and early Ching Dynasty antiques, I am glad that someone has finally written a book about furniture from the late Ching Dynasty. At face value, it is a very attractive book indeed, with colourful pictures of antique Chinese furniture and accessories. However, those hoping to learn more about antiques from this book will be sorely disappointed. Not much was written about the history behind the antiques, such as the difference in styles during different times in China's history or even differences in styles between regional furniture. This book was written by people who own an antique business, so what you read is rather like what you would hear should you walk into an antique shop and speak to the shopkeepers. The literature covers only the first 29 pages of the book, and save for the last 2 pages where there is a short discussion on the various kinds of wood, the rest of the 176 page book contains page after page of photographs of furniture and accessories, with no further explainatory notes.

No comments about American Wicker.

1 comments about English Furniture from Charles II to Queen Anne.

1. This book is for those who are really into this era of high style early English furniture. The scholarship and reseach of many sources not extensivly used before has updated the chronology of this era. This research and the resulting book has laid to rest many earlier misconceptions used to date this furniture. A book that really adds to the knowledge base.
   
   Some may be a bit nervous with this updating but it is based on real reseach and therefore is a good read for those who really love these styles of English furniture.

1 comments about Chinese Provincial Furniture: Selections from the Late Qing Dynasty (Schiffer Book for Collectors).

1. I value art and always looking for books or guide to make my job easy to do. I see alot of Chinese Provincial pieces and going online to find it takes time. I open this book and got a great example and price. This is worth the price, for not other reason it a great references.

No comments about Masterpieces of Shaker Furniture.

2 comments about Italian Empire Furniture: Furnishings and Interior Design From 1800 to 1843.

1. If you like Neoclassic furniture, this is the one and only book you should have. It profiles all of the best Neoclassic furniture (in my opinion); that made in Italy.

   Besides offering a lavish production so that each piece is really viewable, this book compiles virtually every piece of the style. It's an amazing but delicious encyclopedia.

   This is a necessity for anyone who loves the style or needs authoritative information on it.




2. This is a fantastic sourcebook for collectors and dealers, and, I imagine, students. Fascinating text; high quality production (you get what you pay for) that makes it a lifelong reference and a handsome addition to one's library; fine photography of an amazing array of the best furniture from this time; and tastful, classic design. The representation surpassed my expectations--this book is the definitive, the one and only, the first thing to go to when researching a piece. I am most surprised by the historical overviews as they read extremely well. Not every piece is covered in extreme detail, but everything I've thought to look up has been there with a useful passage of at least a few paragraphs. The book is quite large and covers all the essentials and more.

No comments about The Art of the Little Mermaid.

1 comments about Making Period Furniture (Fine Woodworking On).

1. I was a bit leery of this book because it's a collection of articles. My previous experience with collections of articles has not been good - usually they're just a bunch of unrelated stories with no real continuity or theme.

   I was very pleasantly surprised by this book. Although this is a collection of articles that appeared in early issues of Fine Woodworking, they build on each other, with very few "junk" articles in the collection. The first article discusses the quality of period joinery and quotes a modern woodworker, Robert Emmertt, as having promised himself, "If I ever got to touch a piece of Goddard furniture, I'd never wash my hand. But now I have seen the back of a genuine Goodard piece and its drawers. And I wash my hands. My construction is better."

   What the article points out is that our woodworking ancestors built furniture for a living - not for art. A modern woodworker, even one with a limited shop, can build period furniture that's as good or better than even Townsend and Goodard. The follow-on articles include pointers to books with measure drawings of period furniture, instructions for building Queen Ann Cabriole legs and Chippendale "claw and ball" feet, and an interesting article on "hidden drawers". It also contains instruction for building a blockfront chest, including a scale drawing of two pieces of blockfront furniture (at 1/4 scale).

   There are a few "junk" articles, of course, (for example, "A Small Highboy") but there's not many in the collection. If you have an interest in period furniture, this is an excellent resource.

   If you're just getting started in woodworking, don't buy this book - you'll be lost. But if you're reasonably proficient, this is an excellent book, especially if you're looking to improve your ability to build period furniture. Highly recommended!