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. Throughout, the author has kept
in focus the way in which people's lives, their self-images and preoccupations,
as well as the organization and techniques of furniture-making, have
affected the forms of these objects, which are so vital a part of
our environment.
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. Throughout, the author has kept
in focus the way in which people's lives, their self-images and preoccupations,
as well as the organization and techniques of furniture-making, have
affected the forms of these objects, which are so vital a part of
our environment.