My WW is leading me toward period furniture and I'm more and more interested
in Federal style. I've plenty of books on Queen Anne, Duncan Phyfe, etc,
but am really looking for Federal stuff, more late 18th century to turn of
the 19th century. Especially anything by John and Thomas Seymour. Any
books, plans, pics, leads, etc. are appreciated. I'm googled out. Hardly
any books exist strictly for Federal furniture that I have found. I have
one pic of a Seymour sideboard from Glen Huey's "Fine Furniture for a
Lifetime" and I think it's one of the sharpest pieces I've seen in some
time. I plan on building it soon, but would like some inspiration for other
Federal pieces. I'll post a scan of the sideboard at APBW so everyone can
get the idea of what I'm talking about. Thanks, --dave

"Dave Jackson" wrote ...
My WW is leading me toward period furniture and I'm more and more
interested
in Federal style.

There was a book called "The Furniture Masterworks of John & Thomas Seymour"
but I haven't actually seen it. Dover has reprinted a lot of good ones -
Hepplewhite's "Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer's Guide" and Sheraton's
"Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer's Drawing-Book" would be 2 important ones -
there's an old Zen saying, "Don't imitate the masters; learn what they
learned" and a lot of Federal syle pieces can be traced right back to those
2 books.
Some of the old measured drawing books have some nice federal pieces:
Gottshall's "Making Antique Furniture Reproductions", Margon's "Construction
of American Furniture Treasures", Salamonsky's "Masterpieces of Furniture in
Photographs and Drawings" all have some nice pieces dimensioned. Smiths's
"Old Furnitu Understanding the Craftsman's Art" has some close-ups of
details.
There are a lot of picture books that show some nice pieces, often with
overall dimensions, so it's easy to draw the pieces using a pair of
proportional dividers: Comstock's "American Furniture" has a lot of pieces
in small b&w photos. Flanigan's "American Furniture from the Kaufman
Collection" is one of my favorites, with excellent photos & overall
dimensions of really outstanding pieces. Another favorite is Fales'
"American Painted Furniture 1660 - 1880" with a lot of photos of some very
nice forms, even if the decoration isn't to your taste.

Many of these books are no doubt out of print, but it would be well worth
checking some of the on-line used booksellers for them, IMO.

--
Timothy Juvenal
www.tjwoodworking.com

Thanks Timothy for that list. I am/was an avid woodworker hobbist,
including old style furniture, but my disability disallows me to be as
active, in that department, as I once was. For the past few years I
have been taking formal upholstery classes, at the local Tech school,
and your list provides some very interesting references about
upholstery. Recently, I've been learning advanced caning techniques,
also. For me, upholstery has become a good complement to and recourse
from woodworking, alone,.... and it's fun, too.

Simply, thanks for the references. I had stagnated in my own search
for something more than what I have at hand. There had been times
when I thought to query this forum, but upholstery, and related
issues, didn't seem to be on topic.

Sonny

I suggest you visit AllBookStores web site

http://www.allbookstores.com

Do a key word search for " federal furniture "

Site will reply with 10 selections.. Pick any selection for
additional information and comparative pricing.



On Jan 27, 9:52 pm, "Dave Jackson" wrote:
My WW is leading me toward period furniture and I'm more and more interested
in Federal style. I've plenty of books on Queen Anne, Duncan Phyfe, etc,
but am really looking for Federal stuff, more late 18th century to turn of
the 19th century. Especially anything by John and Thomas Seymour. Any
books, plans, pics, leads, etc. are appreciated. I'm googled out. Hardly
any books exist strictly for Federal furniture that I have found. I have
one pic of a Seymour sideboard from Glen Huey's "Fine Furniture for a
Lifetime" and I think it's one of the sharpest pieces I've seen in some
time. I plan on building it soon, but would like some inspiration for other
Federal pieces. I'll post a scan of the sideboard at APBW so everyone can
get the idea of what I'm talking about. Thanks, --dave

On Jan 27, 9:52 pm, "Dave Jackson" wrote:
My WW is leading me toward period furniture and I'm more and more interested
in Federal style. I've plenty of books on Queen Anne, Duncan Phyfe, etc,
but am really looking for Federal stuff, more late 18th century to turn of
the 19th century. Especially anything by John and Thomas Seymour. Any
books, plans, pics, leads, etc. are appreciated. I'm googled out. Hardly
any books exist strictly for Federal furniture that I have found. I have
one pic of a Seymour sideboard from Glen Huey's "Fine Furniture for a
Lifetime" and I think it's one of the sharpest pieces I've seen in some
time. I plan on building it soon, but would like some inspiration for other
Federal pieces. I'll post a scan of the sideboard at APBW so everyone can
get the idea of what I'm talking about. Thanks, --dave


Dunbar.


Regards,

Tom Watson

tjwatson1ATcomcastDOTnet (real email)

http://home.comcast.net/~tjwatson1/

On 28 Jan, 03:52, "Dave Jackson" wrote:
My WW is leading me toward period furniture and I'm more and more interested
in Federal style.

Some of my favourites of the books that aren't impossibly out of
print. There's also the Dover press reprint series of things like
Chippendale and Sheraton's own handbooks.

American Furniture of the 18th Century
Jeffrey Greene
ISBN 1-56158-104-6
http://amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1561581046/codesmiths-20
(Lee Valley carry it too)
A truly excellent book on the whole century, right up to the Federal
period

Queen Anne Furniture
Norman Vandal
ISBN 0-942391-07-1
Taunton Press
http://amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0942391071/codesmiths-20
Queen Anne rather than Federal, but there's an awful lot in here on
techniques.

In the 18th Century Style
Fine Woodworking / Taunton Press
ISBN 1561583979
http://amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1561583979/codesmiths-20

Making Period Furniture
Fine Woodworking / Taunton Press
ISBN 0918804302
http://amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0918804302/codesmiths-20

How to Design and Construct Period Furniture
Franklin Gottshall
ISBN 0-517-02263-X
http://amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/051702263X/codesmiths-20
Hard to find, but worth seeking out. A broad-ranging book in period,
it has some excellent content on style and proportions of classic
designs.

Carving Architectural Detail in Wood
Frederick Wilbur
ISBN 1861081588
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1861081588/codesmiths-20
Bit of an odd title, but as well as the carving guidance it's also an
excellent background to the sense of Classical proportion that
underlies most 18th century architecture and furniture design.

Classic Finishing Techniques
Sam Allen
Sterling Publishing
ISBN 0806905131
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0806905131/codesmiths-20
Although this is also a competent text on general finishing, the real
interest of this book is in its historical recipes for old processes
and mixtures. If you're looking for the use of alkanet root or
dragon's blood and you don't fancy wading through the old references
yourself, this is the book to read.

Sadly out of print and almost unavailable, snap a copy up whenever you
see one. Prices are steep though.
Easier to find than Robert Dossie's period "Handmaid to the Arts"
though!

Thanks to all that replied. I definately have more books on the "watched
list" now. --dave
"Dave Jackson" wrote in message
link.net...
My WW is leading me toward period furniture and I'm more and more
interested in Federal style. I've plenty of books on Queen Anne, Duncan
Phyfe, etc, but am really looking for Federal stuff, more late 18th
century to turn of the 19th century. Especially anything by John and
Thomas Seymour. Any books, plans, pics, leads, etc. are appreciated. I'm
googled out. Hardly any books exist strictly for Federal furniture that I
have found. I have one pic of a Seymour sideboard from Glen Huey's "Fine
Furniture for a Lifetime" and I think it's one of the sharpest pieces I've
seen in some time. I plan on building it soon, but would like some
inspiration for other Federal pieces. I'll post a scan of the sideboard
at APBW so everyone can get the idea of what I'm talking about.
Thanks, --dave