19th Century European Furniture Payne Christopher Antique Collectors Club

The sheer complexity of the subject of European furniture, ranging through an enormous variety of styles with often only small regional differences, makes it unrealistic to cover it adequately in anything less than the detailed and lavishly illustrated work we have here. France dominated the European furniture scene as her extraordinary cultural influences were much encouraged, if not created, by the aspirations of the two Napoleons who wished to recreate that country's earlier grandeur. This is not to underestimate, however, other influences such as Turkish, Moorish, African, Far and Mid-Eastern, which filtered in through neighbouring European countries and were often incorporated into furniture designs throughout the Continent. It was inevitable ...