Books on Medieval & Renaissance Furniture:
Authors M-Z
Margon, Lester.
Masterpieces of European Furniture 1300-1840: A Compendium with
Photographs, Measured Drawings and Descriptive Commentary.
New York, Architectural Book Publishing Co., 1968.
288 pp.
The medieval section is brief, but the Renaissance section includes measured drawings of a number of pieces. What I'd really like to find are the 90% of Margon's drawings that didn't make it into the book.
Matzek, Robert
Unterwegs zu Holz- und Möbelmuseen. Ein
Museumsführer.
[Visiting Wood and Furniture Museums: A Museum Guide]
Stuttgart, DRW-Verlag: 1997
88 p. ISBN: 3871813885
In German. This slim volume is a guide to 24 small German, Austrian, and Swiss museums in specializing in some facet of woodworking, furniture, or lumbering.
Mercer, Eric.
Furniture, 700-1700.
London: Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 1969.
183 pp. 187 ill. ISBN: 297-17809-1
While this book is very well illustrated, it lacks descriptions of the pieces illustrated. This is probably due to the book's focus on general trends. Mercer has an obvious bias against anything medieval. Unfortunately, the evidence cited is contradictory and the argument does not hold up, particularly in the light of more recent evidence. The author also has the nasty (but common) habit of discussing the Middle Ages as an invariant whole. Fortunately, the writing gets better once one gets into Chapter 3. Worth buying for the pictures.
Müller-Christensen, Sigrid.
Alte Möbel: Vom Mittelalter bis zum Jugendstil.
[Old Furniture: From the Middle Ages to Art Noveau]
Munich, Bruckmann.
240 pp. ill. ISBN:3765418366
In German. A well-illustrated overview of furniture history with a decent (about a third of the book) Medieval and Renaissance section. The examples include a lot of German and Scandinavian pieces that are not often seen. There are some good pictures of elaborate intarsia work from the late 16th Century.
Interesting tidbits: Check out the ebony and ivory travelling bed. The author makes the point that vernacular furniture is often resistant to change - illustrated by an 18th Century Swedish bed that is similar to that found on the 9th Cenury Oseborg ship and a 16th Century chest whose construction technique is straight out of the 13th Century.
Oursel, Hervé and Thierry Crépin-Leblond.
Museé National de la Renaissance, Chateau
d'Écouen: Guide.
Paris: Éditions de la Réunion des musées
nationaux, 1994.
A guide to the collections of the museum. Describes several pieces of 16th and 17th century furniture.
Pinto, Maria Helena Mendes.
Os Móveis e o seu Tempo: Mobiliário
Português do Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga Séculos
XV-XIX
Lisbon: Instituto Português do Património Cultural,
1987
In Portugese. A description of the Portugese furniture in the collection of the National Art Museum. The medieval and Renaissance sections are quite short but there are one or two interesting pieces, notably a 16th century writing desk in the form of a coffer.
Palazzo Bianco.
Civilta del legno : mobili dalle collezioni di Palazzo Bianco e
del Museo degli Ospedali di S. Martino, Genova, Palazzo Bianco, 21
giugno-30 settembre, 1985 : catalogo della mostra
Genova : SAGEP, c1985.
111 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 21 x 24 cm.:
ISBN: 8870581497
NK2560 .C58 1985
In Italian. Exhibition catalog of 16th to 19th century Italian furniture in the collections of Genoese museums. Some good interior shots of a 16th century cassone as well as some other pieces of renaissance furniture. The introductory material appears to have some interesting information on the history of Italian joiners' guilds.
Roe, Fred.
A History of Oak Furniture.
London: The Connoisseur, 1920.
86 pp., ill.
Copiously illustrated with clear pictures. Roe is an amusing (and opinionated) writer who is anything but dry. On the down side, most of his theories and his dating of pieces have been superseded by more recent scholarship. Worth looking at for the pictures and for understanding where later writers such as Chinnery (q.v.) are coming from.
Richards, Maggie
"Form, function, ownership: a study of chests from Henry VIII's
warship Mary Rose, 1545" in Redknap, Mark, ed. Artefacts
from Wrecks: Dated Assemblages from the Late Middle Ages to the
Industrial Revolution. Oxford: Oxbow, 1997.
ISBN 1900188392
An examination of the different varieties of chests found aboard the Mary Rose. Includes construction details as well as a statistical analysis of the types of wood used for each type of chest.
Sadan, J.
Le mobilier au Proche-Orient medieval.
[The Furniture of the Medieval Near East]
Leiden : E. J. Brill, 1976.
x, 179 p., [4] leaves of plates : ill. ; 25 cm. :LoC:
In French. This is the only work I know of on medieval Islamic furniture. I'm still slogging through the French so I can't really comment on the text. One thing that is apparent is the lack of illustrations. The author also appears to have relied entirely on artistic evidence instead of actual specimens - although, to be fair, I'm not aware of how many period pieces have survived.
Schottmüller, Frida.
Wohnungskultur and Möbel der Italienischen
Renaissance.
[Interior Decoration and Furniture of the Italian Renaissance]
Stuttgart, Verlag Julius Hoffman, 1921.
250 p. 590 ill.
In German. A brief text introduction and over 500 pictures of 15th through 17th century Italian furniture and room settings. The sheer number of pieces is a little overwhelming (four pages of X chairs, for example) but does serve to illustrate the variety of forms and styles for each type of furniture. There are also some pictures of embroidered upholstery fabrics. There is an English version available, published by Brentano's in 1921.
Thirion, Jacques.
Le Mobilier du Moyen Age et de la Renaissance en
France.
[Furniture of the Middle Ages and Renaissance in France]
Dijon: Editions Faton, 1998.
ISBN: 2878440374
In French. A large format book with lots of really good pictures of the objects being discussed. Extensive sections on technique and decorative themes.
Thornton, Peter.
The Italian renaissance interior 1400 - 1600.
New York: Abrams, 1991
407 p. ISBN: 0810934590
Covers the history of interiors through the Italian Renaissance, relying mostly on artistic evidence. Considerable coverage of furniture. One weakness is a lack of photographs of original objects. Lots of useful information in the text.
Tracy, Charles.
English Medieval Furniture and Woodwork.
London: Antique Collector's Club, 1988.
216 pp.
ISBN: 1851770453
A catalog of the V&A's furniture and woodwork collection. Mostly woodwork, but some good furniture shots. The captions can be annoyingly brief.
Warne, E. J.
Furniture mouldings : full size sections of moulded details on
English furniture from 1574 to 1820.
Fresno, CA: Linden Pub., c1991.
140 p. ISBN: 0941936333
Windisch-Graetz, Franz.
Mobel Europas [European Furniture]
Munchen : Klinkhardt & Biermann, c1982.
2 vol. ISBN 3781402134
In German. A two-volume set covering European furniture from the Romanesque to the 17th Century. About half of each volume is pictures. The coverage is heavily German, but there are examples from the rest of Europe including some eastern European pieces. This book stands out for its coverage of Romanesque pieces of which there are more surviving examples than one might suppose.
Wright, A.C.
Medieval furniture.
Southend-on-Sea: Museums Service, Borough of Southend-on-Sea, 1976.
40 pp.
Line drawings taken from various pieces of period art. Mostly good for getting ideas about projects and places to look for documentation.
Wührlin, Traugott.
Kleine Kunstgeschichte für Schreiner. [Small Art
History for Cabinetmakers]
Stuttgart: Dt. Verl.-Anst., 1981.
132 pp. ISBN:3421025711
Contents © 2003 Gary R. Halstead