ILLUSTRATEDHISTORY OFFURNITURE
| FIRST EDITION | 1892 |
| SECOND EDITION | 1892 |
| THIRD EDITION | 1893 |
| FOURTH EDITION | 1899 |
| FIFTH EDITION | 1903 |
TRUSLOVE AND BRAY
PRINTERS
WEST NORWOOD S E
ENGLISH SATIN-WOOD
DRESSING-TABLE.
WITH PAINTED DECORATION.
END OF XVIII CENTURY.
ILLUSTRATED
HISTORY OF
FURNITURE
FROM THE EARLIEST TO
THE PRESENT TIME BY
FREDERICK LITCHFIELD
AUTHOR OF "POTTERY AND PORCELAIN"
WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS
LONDON: TRUSLOVE & HANSON LIMITED
NEW YORK: JOHN LANE MDCCCCIII
PREFACE.
N the following pages the Author has placed beforethe reader an account of the changes in thedesign of Decorative Furniture and Woodwork,from the earliest period of which we have any reliableor certain record until the present time.
A careful selection of illustrations has been madefrom examples of established authenticity, the majorityof which are to be seen, either in the Museums towhich reference is made, or by permission of the owners;and the representations of the different "interiors" willconvey an idea of the character and disposition of theFurniture of the periods to which they refer. Theseillustrations are arranged, so far as possible, in chronologicalorder, and the descriptions which accompany them areexplanatory of the historical and social changes whichhave influenced the manners and customs, and directlyor indirectly affected the Furniture of different nations.An endeavour is made to produce a "panorama," whichmay prove acceptable to many, who, without wishing to