Duncan Phyfe and the English Regency 1795 - 1830
by Nancy McClelland
I've heard people say so often "my sofa is Duncan Phyfe' referring to a piece of furniture from the 1960's. Phyfe's style was the status quo for formal furniture back in the 1950's. The market is full of great, OK and horrible reproduction examples of machine made, cheap, mahogany wood furniture. This is a far cry from who the real man was and the incredible period furniture that he made.
This is a hard core research book not for the faint of heart. The definitive guide to Phyfe, his styles and traditions. It will explore Phyfe and his competitors and imitators. This book is a must for those who are currently appraising period furniture. Easy to read and follow. It'll cover the personal and cabinet making history of this talented man. With one of my favorite things being, the 1854 Duncan Phyfe shop inventory of the furniture that he made. Also included is an appendix showing typical Phyfe details, various records, and the genealogy of the Phyfe family.
This is one of my newest and currently favorite furniture books that I just got in a few weeks ago. This soft backed edition is published by Dover Publications. This edition is from 1980 but the original edition was a limited printing from 1939. Illustrated with 295 photographs,the photos are all b/w and are sadly not of good quality, but this was from 1939 so we're lucky to have any. Paper is a little on the inexpensive side.
You know I was shocked when I began to look for this 1980 edition online. I found only a few sellers that offered this book for under $30.00 and the prices quickly escalated up to $50.00 - $75.00 for this paper back edition. I highly recommend this book.
Remember, Knowledge Is Power, So Arm Your Self.
0 comments:
Post a Comment