Product Description

Arts and Crafts design, characterized by clean, graceful lines and solid workmanship with quality materials, has experienced an explosion of popularity over the past decade with museums, collectors, and the general public. William Morris, Gustav Stickley, and Frank Lloyd Wright are among some of the most well-known designers who produced furniture and architecture in the Arts and Crafts style, while many others produced ceramics, glass, textiles, wallpaper, and silverware in the same vein. A comprehensive survey of one of America's most enduring and popular interior design styles, reflecting both traditional and contemporary interpretations, this lavishly illustrated and informative volume begins with a discussion of the origins of the Arts and Crafts movement at the turn of the century and traces its evolution to the present day. Over 140 glorious, full-color photographs showcase the special beauty of this simple, graceful style and depict the hallmarks of its design impeccable construction and proportions, the use of enduring woods, exquisite finishes, handwrought hardware, and other unique touches in every object pictured, all in the context of contemporary homes. From a New York estate filled with rare Roycraft pieces to a Beverly Hills mansion furnished in Mission oak, the book not only provides a rare glimpse into the collector's world but offers a visual blueprint for incorporating this engaging style into any household, a source index explains how to identify original pieces and directs the consumer to places where both authentic and reproduction Arts and Crafts furniture and objects can be obtained. An invaluable and inspirational reference for decorators and collectors at all levels, In the Arts and Crafts Style combines splendid photography and an enlightening text into a treasured, one-of-a-kind volume as classic and timeless as the style to which it pays tribute.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #282388 in Books
• Published on: 1992-10-01
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 224 pages

About the Author
Barbara Mayer who is a writer specializing in design and decorative arts topics, has been the home furnishings writer for the Associated Press for 12 years. The author of two other books on craft art and interior design, her magazine credits include Elle D Rob Gray is a professional photographer currently based in Manhattan whose work has appeared in numerous magazines, including HG, House Beautiful, Vogue, and Metropolitan Home, as well as in several books.

Customer Reviews

A very strong four and a half stars!
I am a librarian and a woodworker and thus have access and interest in many books on this subject. "In the Arts and Crafts Style" is a beautiful book that is deserved of much praise. The color photography is as plentiful as it is beautiful. I appreciate that the subject matter for this book does not seem to be drawn from the same dozen houses that so many others have used (As much as I like them, how many times can we look at the same pictures of the Gamble House, or Frank Lloyd Wright's home and studio?). The text in this book is very well written and conveys clearly what is so special about the subject matter. I was also very impressed with the excellent resource list given at the end of the book.

If I had an axe to grind about this book it is that the best photographs of A&C furniture are not contained in the (relatively short) chapter on furniture, but rather they are scattered throughout other chapters. This is a minor irritation in an overwhelmingly well done book.

I highly recommend this book for any collection relating to historic homes, furniture / interior design, and lovers of the Arts & Crafts lifestyle.

Great for Dreaming Your Ultimate Spaces
What a lovely book, for the A&C afficionado and the newbie alike. Dividing her content into Influences & Innovations; Hallmarks of the Style; Furniture; Objects and Accents; and Case Studies, Mayer presents a stunning and inspirational tour of homes and objects from the Arts and Crafts Movement. My sister gave me this when she realized I loved the style, and I nearly wept. How amazing to have someone understand your passions!

The only disappointment in this book is the inclusion of a case study "American Gothic," which highlights an anti-A&C aesthetic with a profusion, Victorian-aesthetic in its genesis, of tiles, metalwork, and pottery, that Stickley, Voysey, et al. would have abjured. Still, this departure from the style's reason for being serves to remind us of how valuable that reason was.

Excellent entry point into Arts and Crafts Movement
An arts and crafts website recommended this book as the place for beginners in the movement. Following their lead, we purchased the book and have not regretted it.

The advice is true. This is excellent background for the movement, giving it a skeleton which can be used to hang more and more on, including sources, wonderful photographical examples, and resources. We're finding it is desirable and so, so useful to restoring our bungalow to have a wealth of books on hand such as these to give ideas for restoration and decorating.