Book

Art and Industry in Early America

Patricia E. Kane, the Friends of American Arts Curator of American Decorative Arts (Yale University Press)

Patricia E. Kane, the Friends of American Arts Curator of American Decorative Arts at the Yale University Art Gallery, with Dennis Carr, Nancy Goyne Evans, Jennifer N. Johnson, and Gary R. Sullivan

(Yale University Press)

The most comprehensive publication available to date on the topic, “Art and Industry in Early America” examines furniture made throughout Rhode Island from the earliest days of the settlement to the late Federal period.

This volume features more than 200 illustrations of chairs, high chests, bureau tables, and clocks that demonstrate the workmanship and artistic skill of the state’s furniture makers. Written by scholars, the book presents new information on the export trade, patronage, artistic collaboration, and the small-scale shop traditions that defined early Rhode Island craftsmanship. In addition to iconic, stylish pieces from important centers of production like Newport and Providence and by well-known makers such as John Goddard and Samuel and Joseph Rawson, Jr., the catalogue showcases simpler examples made in smaller towns. More than 100 catalogue entries detail marks and inscriptions, bibliography, and provenance and feature many new photographs, encouraging a deeper understanding of this school of American furniture making.

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