How to Know French Antiques Furniture Textiles Sculpture Ceramics Glass.../ Book

Description

This early out-of-print book “is a comprehensive guide to every major period and style of the world’s most elegant furniture and decoration, profusely illustrated with both photographs and line drawings to show examples of practically every kind of piece you may ever see.  It is the only objective history of French antiques which covers the entire field.”
HOW TO KNOW FRENCH ANTIQUES
by Ruth T. Costantino, Clarkson N. Potter, Inc., NY, 1961 First Edition.
Given hundreds of line illustrations and over 210 black-and-white photographs, this authoritative reference book will assist the reader in “identifying French antiques and instruct them on how to deal the real from the fake.  Especially useful is a collection of short biographies of all the greatest French furniture makers, a bibliography, and an index for immediate reference.  Starting with the period from the Renaissance to that of Louis XIV, before makers started to mark their furniture, the author then considers the great age of the Rococo, Regence and Louis XV.  She shows by example how the guild system worked and influenced style, and the effect of the law of 1741 which required pieces to be marked.  All the major styles are explained with many illustrative examples, including transition to Louis XVI, Directoire, Consulate, Empire, Restoration and Charles X.  Chapters are devoted to painting, drawing, and the graphic arts, as well as to tapestries, textiles, clocks, bronzes, gold and silver, snuffboxes, faience, porcelain, and glass.”  One of the most comprehensive texts on the subject, this rare book belongs in the permanent reference library of the collector, dealer, or historian of French objects of art.
Oversize 9.25” x 12.1” hardback with dust cover in good condition (dust cover is ragged and torn; book itself is in very good condition).  240 pages.
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