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The Study of Fine Crafted
Furniture
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It is
important to study the fine handcrafted furniture made
in America. Most quality pieces are identified by the
cabinetmaker that made them. Some of the earliest
furniture maker's were the Shakers. Dedicated to a
simple, communal lifestyle outside of society, this
movement spread throughout New England and the Midwest
during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The
furniture produced by Shakers for their own use was
beautiful in its simplicity and
functionality.
The sleek lines of Danish Modern
furniture took the design world by storm in the
mid-twentieth century. This style is widely known today
for simple lines of blonde furniture. American families
desire this type of furniture for an informal yet
sophisticated look through its Danish Modern and related
lines produced in the 1950s and 1960s.
It should
be know renowned designers, including Charles and Ray
Eames, George Nelson, Harry Bertoia, Isamu Noguchi, and
Eero Saarinen, and produced by companies such as Herman
Miller, Knoll, and Heywood-Wakefield, created this
highly collectible modern furniture of the
1950s.
Another style of furniture is Art Deco and
it cannot be seen only in its historic reference.
Looking at today's furniture it can be seen that a
number of designers are incorporating Deco elements into
contemporary settings. Here, both interiors and
furniture exemplify the sinuous lines and geometric
shapes of Deco as part of today's
interiors.
American does not collect only home
grown but also European furniture as well. The demand is
still great with container loads of cabinets, bureaus,
wardrobes, secretaries, sofas, chairs, and tables
arriving almost daily. French provincial furniture,
striking furniture of the nineteenth century Biedermeier
era in Austria and Germany, and the famous Harrods Ltd.
of London are all in demand.
Looking toward the
east and focusing on provincial furniture most of the
early 1800s to early 1900s (late Qing Dynasty), have
become extremely collectible furniture. Especially
chairs, benches, tables, storage pieces, beds, and
screens originally created and used in eight Chinese
provinces.
So it can be said that no matter
if the furniture is from the east, west or here at home,
there are eras that a very collectible. The likes and
dislikes of furniture can be extremely complicated and
widely diverse. It can be said that most collectors have
a distinct preference whether their furniture is going
to be modern, contemporary, or provincial.
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