Book Review: Furniture In England; The Age Of The Joiner

I'm currently reading a book that has totally grabbed my attention, a distinct feat in and of itself as I do have a tendency to wander when it comes to attention. Sorry, back to the review...

Furniture In England: The Age Of The Joiner, by S. W. Wolsey and R. W. P. Luff; Praeger Publishing, 1968 (London), 1969 (New York). Clearly not in print any longer, you can look up libraries holding this title via Worldcat.

Let me just say that I am not an historian by profession or by serious inclination. I do enjoy amassing facts and figuring out how they might intertwine but I rarely delve as deeply into minutiae as do historians. Unless the subject really interests me. Even then, I'm more of an organizer of information, researcher of the same and enjoyer of the spoils of my exploits.

I came upon this book while doing some research on workbenches, a topic that of late seems to be taking up a considerable amount of blog space. Take a close look at the Joyners workbench depicted on the rear of the book jacket. This is from a bas relief carving of the time period. In the left hand corner of the bench can be seen a Crochet device much as has been discussed of late. Back in 2009, Stephen Shepherd posted his drawings of the Moxon workbench. Which was followed by:

Chris

Chris

Peter

Gary

Peter

Gary

and so on... I'm sure there are more posts rattling around in our clothes presse.

Furniture In England is a must read for anyone who is interested in the history of furniture, both the why it was made, who made it, how it was made and when it was made. The time period is primarily 1550-1660, with some delving into earlier and later influences. The rise and tyranny of the Guilds is discussed as said heavy-handedness related to the development of furniture construction, use and meaning.

How accurate is the book? Peter Follansbee may very well be better able to address that question. For my purposes, it's a great read. Illustrated with B&W photographs from the authors personal collection, the text is very readable, a rarity these days when it comes to historical books. The authors fill in the gaps that may bedevil the reader, such as time periods, who was in power, how these topics relate to furniture and most importantly, why a given household inventory tells a clear story of the history of early English furnishings. The possible influence of Continental designs and techniques is discussed quite fairly. There is none of the geo-political bias often seen in books written by an author about the goods of their own country. How do I know the authors are British? Wolsey? R. W. P. Luff? Such names would not be allowed in the modern day Colonies.

" The constant reference to glue is of signifigance as the Carpenters Company forbade the use of this material." is but one of the incredible quotes from this book. Carpenters used "trennells" (tree-nails), aka, riven pegs to join timber, never glue. Learning of the details that differentiated the various trades from each other, as well as the internecine warfare that permeated this time period, clarified for me the how and why European furniture construction and design came about.

Contents

1. Historical Background
2. The Craftsmen
3. The Materials
4. Storage and Display
5. The Table
6. The Bed
7. Seating
8. Children's Furniture
9. Other Household Pieces
10. Conclusion
11. Glossary
12. Appendices

Read this book or be forever sorry you didn't.

Till next, Gary