I'm looking for resources (books, museums, websites) for unique, folk, European furniture, preferably 17th and 18th century. Nothing high end, but not too simple either. Some carving and decorative elements would be great. German, Scandinavian, Austrian, Dutch, English....any suggestions?
Here are some pieces that sort of reflect what I'm looking for, but I'm open to any and all suggestions.
Tables, chairs, cupboards, any kind of household stuff.
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24 comments:
Try this blog http://thomasguild.blogspot.com/
Is this for your book;)
Do you have Wallace Nutting's Furniture Treasury? It is not "folk" strictly oriented but a few pieces are slipped in.
Try this link to Vesterheim Norwegian Museum in Decorah,IA http://store.vesterheim.org/folk-art-supplies/patterns?page=1 for carving and furniture patterns. They also have a online collection of folk art which shows examples of trunks and various containers
Kari,
Have you ever heard of Zoar in Eastern Ohio? It was a German Separatist commune that spanned most of the 19th century. They had quite the output of furniture with a lot of originals on display. Also nearby is Warther's, a museum dedicated to a woodcarver who did some amazing carving. Think I even have a book of Zoar Furniture I could dig out if you are interested?
George Walker
Kari, you appear to have a fondness for the same design vernaculars that I do. I began collecting resources years ago in anticipation of my retirement. As luck would have it, I am now retired with all fingers intact. Here are some of my favorites. Alpine Interiors (Beate Wedekind); Mittel Europa (Suzanne Slesin); Scandinavian Country (Pamela Diaconis); and Country Houses of Holland (Barbara & Rene Stoeltie). All are still available on Amazon. Thank you for all you have taught us on your blog. Keep up the good work. Keep the craft alive. Larry
Here are some books (with photos and drawings) form the old country:
http://www.profakt.se/product_info.php?cPath=22&products_id=30
http://www.profakt.se/product_info.php?cPath=22&products_id=31
Thank you so much for all the suggestions! I really appreciate your help.
I have some books that were recommended to me which are very good, but I'm always on the lookout for special pieces. Of the books and sites you guys listed, I've only heard of the Wallace Nutting book which I tried to get ahold of once. I have seen them go for as little as $5 at PATINA, so I'll put that on the list for next year.
George, I'll try to find the book you're talking about before asking you to dig for it. Thank you for the offer. :o)
Kari,
Have you contacted Peter Follansbee? I could be wrong, but that seems to be a lot of the same type of stuff he does. Just a thought...
http://pfollansbee.wordpress.com/
Hi Kari I was in finnland last year and visited the Museovirasto. They have a website online and it has an english index. They had a lot of wooden items and wood working tools
http://suomenmuseotonline.fi/fi
Kari,
I have searched for such things by using google translator to get key words in foreign languages, then searched those words and looked in images. Once you find something you are looking for find keywords connected with that photo and search them.
Mike
Holy mackerel, you guys have good ideas. I wish I had posted this a long time ago!
http://www.amibimages.org
American Museum in Britain online image catalog.
http://www.nps.gov/history/museum/exhibits/hampton/house_tour.html
Don't know if its been suggested there are two books
English furniture 1550-1760
English Furniture 1760-1900
Geoffery Willis
http://www.bibliopolis.com/main/books/41981/English-Furniture-1550-1760-WILLS-Geoffrey-Bibliomania.html?id=A42N6R7T
From the complicated to the sublime
Hi Kari.
Sorry for taking so long.
I was trying to look for some type of Portuguese traditional furniture, but as Europeans, our culture is a gathering of styles from all around Europe and the world, because of the discoveries.
After speaking with colleuges, one kind of Portuguese furniture that has been around for same type, adapted from other countries is the "Contador". Maybe it can be translated as the "Counter furniture". It was used to hold the money and documents from rich people, and then adapted to the sea travels during discoveries. When Portuguese arrived in Japan, China and India, it suffered a huge transformation, becoming what is now a very known piece of furniture and art.
Typical Portuguese "Counter furniture" can be distinguished by the legs style, wavy and tangled. It has a lot of carving too.
Here are some links:
http://pnsintra.imc-ip.pt/pt-PT/emfoco/metamorfosescontador/ContentDetail.aspx
http://www.manuelcastilho.com/pt/historico_pecas_10print.html
http://www.moveisdartecanhoto.com/press/ptg/pr_releases/pr_02_contador_grifo_premiado.html
http://velhariasdoluis.blogspot.pt/2011/11/um-contador-ao-gosto-do-seculo-xvii.html
Other very tipycal Portuguese way of woodworking is carving. Portugal is well known for his "Golden carving"; carved wood with gold leafs on it. But almost all this carving is religious, so i don´t know if you are very interested.
http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talha_dourada
I'll just leave you with three links from our Cathedral, here in Braga where i live.
http://www.geira.pt/MSeBraga/
http://orguesfrance.com/BragaCatedralEpitre.html
This last one is from outside the Cathedral, just to give you an idea.
Hope this helps you.
Chester County Historical Society in West Chester, PA
http://www.chestercohistorical.org/exhibits.php
Scroll to the bottom of the page for detailed description.
I think this is a good example of what you're looking for.
As some suggested, Peter Follansbee posted some time ago about a book which I have drooled over, but not purchased. The name of the book is Nood-Nederlandse meubelen van Renissance tot vroege Barok and it is 100 euro - don't know if I can spend that kind of $$ on a book, but I may look it up when I am in the Netherlands later this year.
Take a look at this dutch site,
http://www.vanaalstantiek.nl/index.php?siID=9&lang=EN
Good Stuff!
A sincere thank you to all of you for taking the time to post links and book suggestions. I've been pouring over the sites for the past couple days and have found a number of items that have really caught my eye.
Take a look at this website http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/ffurn/hd_ffurn.htm
It seems nice..
Folk Furniture of Canada's Doukhobors, Hutterites, Mennonites and Ukrainians, by J Fleming and Michael Rowan.
Some pretty neat and bizarre colours. Very rare furniture
Try this for an interesting little cabinet.
http://www.christies.com/lotFinder/lot_details.aspx?intObjectID=5528770
I really like your taste in woodworking (and ice cream too). I've learned a lot from your site.
Hurry back from your sabbatical.
Jim
PVC stolarija, that's a cool website. The boxwood carving from the medieval period--->holy mackerel!
Anon, thank you for the book recommendation!
Jim, I've never seen a cabinet like that before. Almost looks like the top lifts off and can be inverted to be used as a bowl. I bet the maker would have liked to have fetched such a high price when he sold it.
ISBN-10: 3925369082
ISBN-13: 978-3925369087
For 17th c. English furniture you can't beat Victor Chinnery, "Oak Furniture: The British Tradition." For a tonne of line drawings of furniture from all over Europe and all eras, check out "Classical European Furniture Design" by Jose Claret Rubira.
The V&A is the best English museum for this, and they have a lot of stuff in store that you can arrange to examine - but you have to know what to ask for. The furniture curator can send you a bibliography of published catalogues.
There's a great museum in Brussels with a lot of excellent historic furniture; I think it's the Musee des Arts Decoratifs. Berlin and Frankfurt also have museums with excellent domestic furniture displays.
There are a lot of resources for c17 and c18 domestic furniture, so you will have plenty of research to do. Fun!
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