Dictionary of Furniture: Second Edition
Furniture, when you really stop to think about it, has a surprisingly  small number of uses: for sitting or lying on, for storing things in, and to  provide flat surfaces on which to dine, write, or perform other tasks.  Nonetheless, furniture designers throughout history have drawn on a seemingly  endless supply of creativity to give expression to contemporary sensibilities  through the design of these ubiquitous objects. This second edition of Charles  Boyce's exhaustiveDictionary of Furniturechronicles artistic and  cultural currents of past and present, using changing furniture as a looking  glass through which to learn about the time in which it was made.Boyce shares amusing and fascinating anecdotes illustrating the links between  furniture design and the larger world. Louis XIV of France, for instance,  required French aristocrats to imitate the extravagantly luxurious architecture  and furnishings of Versailles in order to control their wealth. In China, chairs  with names like "chair of the old man who has been drinking" or "chair like a  hanging lantern shaped like a chair" enjoyed popularity throughout the Song and  Ming dynasties.In a comprehensive listing of entries from "Aalto, Hugo Alvar Henrik" to "Zui  Weng Yi," Boyce illuminates readers about furniture styles, construction  details, terminology, furniture designers, and design movements throughout  history and throughout the world. He includes information on European-inspired  classical, baroque, rococo, pop, and modernist styles, among many others. A  helpful guide to buying furniture is included, and offers advice on how to  settle on a budget, how to determine what you need for your space, how to ensure  against fraud, and what to do if you are unhappy with a purchase. This helpful  reference will surely prove handy for both furniture enthusiasts and those  looking to redecorate or refresh their homes.--Robin Donovan--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.