American Furniture and Design
Design made in the United States, from colonial cabinetmakers and Shaker workshops to mid-century modernism and today's studio makers.
No works indexed yet · 10 related artists
No open-access works for American Furniture and Design are in the index yet. They will appear here as more collections are indexed.
About
American furniture began as provincial versions of English models but soon found its own accent. In 18th-century Newport, Rhode Island, the Townsend and Goddard families carved block-and-shell fronts on mahogany desks and chests. Through the 19th century the Shakers reduced chairs, boxes and cupboards to plain, exact forms that later modernists admired. Around 1900 Gustav Stickley's oak Craftsman furniture and the leaded-glass lamps of Tiffany Studios gave the Arts and Crafts years an American voice.
The mid-20th century is the best-known chapter. Herman Miller and Knoll hired architects and designers, and Charles and Ray Eames adapted wartime moulding methods for seating such as their Lounge Chair (1956). Edward Wormley brought quiet refinement to the Dunbar company, and the industrial designer Henry Dreyfuss shaped telephones, tractors and thermostats. Beside industry, George Nakashima and Wendell Castle built one-off pieces in wood, a line that leads directly to present-day studio furniture.
Related artists
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