With 371 illustrations—47 in full color
Here at last is the publication that documents The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s superlative collection of late colonial furniture. This comprehensive catalogue—prodigiously researched and gloriously illustrated—presents 213 of the finest objects in the Museum’s American Wing. These masterpieces of eighteenth-century furniture are fully described and considered in light of comparative pieces from collections across the country. For every object the author gives detailed information about provenance, construction, condition, inscriptions if any, dimensions, and materials. The volume will stand as the quintessential sourcebook for collectors and a tour de force of scholarship in the field.
In his foreword, Philippe de Montebello, director of the Metropolitan, says: “The Museum’s highest priority is to communicate fully and exhaustively what is known about its collections in catalogues such as the present one. The first of three volumes covering the entire field of American furniture, it is devoted to the achievements of American cabinet- and chairmakers in the mid-eighteenth century, and in it curator Morrison Heckscher is able to furnish not only both a synoptic and detailed account of the period, but also invaluable information on methods of manufacture and on stylistic considerations, since his points of departure are the objects themselves, ultimately the most direct and secure evidence from which accurate conclusions can be drawn.”
The catalogue contains an appendix of photographic details, a complete bibliography, and indexes.