Description:
Extraordinary Furniture is a bit of an understated title for this lavish look at some of the most unique, extravagant, opulent, skillfully crafted, and fantastical furniture ever built. Frankly, some pieces would be hard to imagine if they were not real. A lead crystal sideboard, a sterling silver suite of furniture, Empress Josephine's elegant gilded bed, and an exquisite, 17th-century tortoiseshell table cabinet are only a few of the designs shown in lush photographs, many in the original grand homes for which the furniture was built. Included at the end of each section is one of the author's inventive and beautifully crafted contemporary designs or installations. Cut-away diagrams, inside views of unusual cabinets and desks with hidden compartments, and a thorough discussion of the history, craft techniques, and materials used in each piece will inspire (and maybe even overwhelm) the would-be furniture builder, but will certainly provide food for fantasy. The globe on legs that opens into a secretary, the oval commode that opens to reveal a desk (complete with chair), and the exquisite, sideboard-like cabinet that pulls open into a bed will fuel any furniture-maker's imagination. Though not a step-by-step guide to building the individual pieces of unusual furniture, this is nonetheless a wondrous showcase of inventive and even quixotic design that will open the door to the secret compartments of your own imagination. --Mark A. Hetts
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