Furniture: A Concise History

World of Art

by Edward Lucie-Smith

"Rich in information … sharp in perception."― The Times Educational Supplement In this illuminating history, text and illustrations combine to offer a view of furniture not as a succession of collectors’ pieces, but as a statement about the society that created it. Edward Lucie-Smith offers insights into almost every period, from the prehistoric to the postmodern―from Neolithic tables to 1960s conversation pits, and from the ceremonial chairs of Egypt in the thirteenth century BC to the designs of John Makepeace. 190 illustrations, 20 in color

Genres: Art, History, Nonfiction, Reference

216 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1979

About the author

John Edward McKenzie Lucie-Smith, known as Edward Lucie-Smith, is an English writer, poet, art critic, curator and broadcaster.

Lucie-Smith was born in Kingston, Jamaica, moving to the United Kingdom in 1946. He was educated at The King's School, Canterbury, and, after a little time in Paris, he read History at Merton College, Oxford from 1951 to 1954.

After serving in the Royal Air Force as an Education Officer and working as a copywriter, he became a full-time writer (as well as anthologist and photographer). He succeeded Philip Hobsbaum in organising The Group, a London-centred poets' group.

At the beginning of the 1980s he conducted several series of interviews, Conversations with Artists, for BBC Radio 3. He is also a regular contributor to The London Magazine, in which he writes art reviews. A prolific writer, he has written more than one hundred books in total on a variety of subjects, chiefly art history as well as biographies and poetry.

In addition he has curated a number of art exhibitions, including three Peter Moores projects at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool; the New British Painting (1988–90) and two retrospectives at the New Orleans Museum of Art. He is a curator of the Bermondsey Project Space.

Reviews

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

found it extremely knowledgeable until up to 1914. It was around there that the author made himself too known in the writing of the text. I stopped taking notes after he described a Tiffany Lamp as the most beautiful lamp ever made. Clearly a fan of 1700-1800 furniture and the Arts and Crafts movements, it felt like he was having a fit when he described the degerate Post Modern movement in furniture design. Still, it’s a decent book

[sena · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book you attempt to read in order to learn how furniture's evolved, yet find yourself questioning the whole art thing in association with sociological and political facts of a specific time period. A brief, easy read summary.

[Steven]

This is the kind of book that would be hard to convince others to read if they weren't already interested. In any event, it's indeed "concise," and one can gain some interesting insights into how furniture shapes/is-shaped-by the culture around it.

[Jose gonzalezcabrero · Rating 3 out of 5]

clever review, some image references get you lost and its kind of confusing
bust mostly interesting about the history of furniture

[Jonellys Maldonado · Rating 4 out of 5]

A most read if you are interested in history of art.