Furniture in the Southern Style

"The drawings from MESDA's collection satisfy my eye in capturing the kind of structure, art and honesty I have seen in 18th-century furniture." — Mack S. Headley, Jr.

Early American furniture has been widely studied, but through a narrow lens. Typical museum pieces seen today were not found in typical homes, and there is a vast amount of distinctive furniture from the southern region of early 18th- and 19th-century America that has been largely ignored. Furniture in the Southern Style is the first book of measured drawings to present details of this vernacular furniture, which draws on a wide variety of influences that combine to make forms that are uniquely Southern and typically American. No serious study of 18th- and 19th-century American furniture would be complete without the in-depth examination of work produced in the South that this book provides.

• In this book, you get measured drawings of 27 pieces of furniture built between 1710 and 1860 – You'll see the inside story of how these pieces were made, including the important details that set them apart.
  
  
• Each piece is presented with a photograph of the antique, and an introduction to its features, history and construction techniques. An exploded drawing shows how all the parts work together. You'll also find all the information you need to build this furniture in your own shop: section, top, front and side views, all with measurements, as well as detail views and patterns.
  
  
• An historical overview from the authors gives the history of furniture building in the South, and explains the many immigrant influences that contributed to the design and construction of these important pieces.


• Printed and bound in the U.S.A.

Furniture in the Southern Style is the first book to celebrate this overlooked furniture tradition – and with these measured drawings, you can build period reproductions of this important furniture, or use these drawings as a starting point for developing your own designs. Whether you're a collector, or a student of history or design, a thorough understanding of the anatomy of these pieces – how they were made, and why they were made with particular details – will be an invaluable resource.