Field Guide to American Antique Furniture: A Unique Visual System for Identifying the Style of Virtually Any Piece of American Antique Furniture

I purchased this book not really knowing anything about it but seeing it suggested in Miller's Price Guide. I went online to Amazon and found this copy at a VERY reasonable used price..Any antique furniture buyer will tell you it is so very hard to keep the details of different unique makers marks straight while out and about looking at furniture. Seeing antique furniture, no problem. You can spot it a mile away. But to get up close and discover where was it made, possible makers, era, etc. You really need to have the details at your finger tips.One good example is Chippendale. With the claw and ball example, there were many makers here in the Eastern states who made the claw and ball feature. Each state almost has its unique way of making its claw and ball different. Just slightly enough that if you did not know, someone could tell you the piece was manufactured in New York by a famous maker...when the features, very slightly would suggest an older date from say, PA.When I saw this book advertised it said over 1700+ pictures and I thought that may be wishful thinking! But indeed, this book is so full of drawings to accompany the features that it is very clear in demostation what to look for in your furniture. These are not full color photos, but rather line drawings which actually work better when you are looking at style rather than one particular example.I especially enjoy the way the book is categorized by era. It helps to show each era and how furniture changed with the era. The first chapter on the History of American Furniture is very informative!I will not ever be without this book again when looking at furniture!

This book was a lifesaver for my wife, who is working to session objects into a museum collection and needs to describe antique furniture. This book clearly and concisely identifies sometimes obscure characteristics that are still important for the item descriptions.

The book literally had 3 pages marked with the top corners bent. Other than that, it is in the condition of a new book. It has a great amount of detail and I've learned a lot from it so far. It definitely helped me narrow down the time period for the piece of furniture I have.

Good reference book. As others have mentioned, it contains hand drawn pictures, not actual photos. Nevertheless, they are well drawn and there are very good descriptions.

I share this book with my son who buys and sells furniture and it is the best for helping to tell the difference between antiques and reproductions. My only problem was that it was supposed to be new when I purchased it but it had many hand written notes in the margins. The seller offered to take it back with a full refund but I chose to keep it because the notes turned out to be very helpful.

This is a handy guide to get the feel for the style of a piece of furniture. I like the way it is laid out, with a little bit of history and overview of overall styles of design at the beginning followed by quick drawings of furniture sorted by type of furniture, then style. This makes it useful as a field reference. I would note that the style and history overview is very brief, and the line drawings of the furniture, while useful as a quick visual aid, could have been more carefully done. I've found a number of drawing errors, such as missing lines, and some proportions that were not "eyeballed" very well.

I use this book often. I would recommend this book.

Very nice detailed pictures and a pleasure to browse through - great asset in helping to learn and identify furniture - love the book.