Introduction:
Furniture from 18th-century America continues to be among the most
popular styles of all time. While other forms of furniture come into
style and soon appear dated, period furniture continues as a
best-selling classic.
And for good reason -- period furniture is rich with detail. It
was produced during a time when there was a broad separation between
classes of people. Those with means, just as with people today,
sought ways to display their wealth and status in society. One of
the primary ways to display opulence in the eighteenth century was
through finely crafted furniture. In large, wealthy cities, such as
Philadelphia, Boston, and Newport, Rhode Island, furnituremakers
crafted highly developed furniture art forms. Embellishment became
the norm as artisans pierced, carved, sculpted, inlaid, and gilded
what is recognized today as some of the finest examples of furniture
ever produced.
As a furnituremaker for over twenty years, I enjoy the challenge
of reproducing American period furniture both for its level of
technical difficulty as well as its timeless beauty. As you study,
draw, and reproduce these classic examples of Americana, you can't
help but to be immensely impressed with the period craftsman's sense
of design and proportion, as well as his tremendous skill with a few
relatively simple tools.
As a woodworker, if you're not accustomed to using hand tools,
then I encourage you to begin by accumulating the essential edge
tools such as planes, chisels, and a dovetail saw and enjoying
learning to use them. Furniture produced entirely with machines is
void of the fine details that define period furniture. Quite simply,
machines for all their sophistication can't duplicate what's created
by a trained eye and a skillful hand. In other words, while it is
acceptable and desirable to use machines to saw curves, shape
moldings, and even cut some types of joints, hand tools are still
required for many of the details. In the process you'll experience
the delight of cutting a dovetail by hand and hearing the unique
sound of a sharp plane as it slices the surface of a board.
No book or even several volumes of books can contain the wealth
of furniture details created by America's colonial craftsmen. But,
it is my hope that this book will inspire you to deeper study and
appreciation of period furniture, and, most importantly, to develop
your skill in building it.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
SECTION 1. Moldings
Ogees
Coves
Beads
Crown Moldings
Dentil Moldings
SECTION 2. Legs
Tapers
Knee Blocks
Cabriole Leg
SECTION 3. Tabletops
Scalloped Top
Dished Top
Rule Joints
SECTION 4. Feet
Pad Foot
Trifid Foot
Ball and Claw Foot
Flat Base
Ogee Feet
SECTION 5. Bedposts
Bedposts
SECTION 6. Chairs
Splats
Arm and Post
Chair Legs
Chair Shoe
Side Rail
SECTION 7. Casework
Dovetails
Template Shaped Components
Gooseneck Molding
Arched Molding
Rosettes
Finials
Doors
Flutes and Reeds
Base and Capital Molding
Candle-Slide
Index
Soft-cover, 9-1/4 x 10-7/8 in., 144 pages, with
over 400 color photos and drawings
Published 2005
Book ISBN: 978-1-56158-590-8
The Complete
Illustrated
Guide to Period
Furniture Details
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