Oak Furniture: The British Tradition

Victor Chinnery's scholarly work covers the history and development of furniture in oak and kindred timbers in the British Isles and New England, from the Middle Ages through to 1800. The subject is broken down into a logical sequence of aspects and each section is generously illustrated. The furniture shown ranges from the finest examples of the period, to the sort of sturdy and workmanlike pieces which modern collectors will find affordable. The study of oak furniture is a remarkably rich and varied subject, which reflects at several levels the social and domestic life of many generations of our ancestors. Victor Chinnery has explored and clarified many important topics, whilst fully realising that scholarship in this field is still very much in its infancy. One of the most profound influences on the appearance of furniture in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries was the system of rigid demarcations operated by the different furniture making trades, and in which the work of the joiners was the most important. The author explains the techniques and materials of the different trades, as well as other considerations of vital interest to the modern collector and curator. The furniture of Connecticut and Massachusetts in the seventeenth century is presented as an extension of the range of styles to be found in other English provinces at the same date.