A Cultural History of Furniture in the Modern Age

Furniture is a unique witness to the transformations of private and public experience amidst the upheavals of the 20th century: how we work, rest, and play are determined by the embodied encounter with furniture, defining and projecting a sense of identity and status, responding to and exemplifying contrasting social conditions, political and economic motivations, aesthetic predilections, and debates. Assessing physical and archival evidence drawn from a spectrum of iconic and under-represented case studies, an international team of design historians collaborate in this volume to explore key methodological questions about how the production, consumption, and mediation of furniture reveal shifting cultural habits and histories across diverse contexts amidst modernity. Drawing upon a wealth of visual and textual sources, this volume of A Cultural History of Furniture presents essays that examine key characteristics of the furniture of the modern period on the themes of design and motifs; makers, making, and materials; types and uses; the domestic setting; the public setting; exhibition and display; furniture and architecture; visual representations; and verbal representations.

Product details

• Authors: Claire I R O'Mahony
• Assisted by: Claire I. R. O'Mahony (Editor)
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Release: 11.12.2025
• EAN: 9781350595736
• ISBN: 978-1-350-59573-6
• No. of pages: 296
• Dimensions: 168 mm x 242 mm x 18 mm
• Series: The Cultural Histories Series
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Art > Interior design, design; 20th Century, HISTORY / Modern / 21st Century, HISTORY / Social History, Furniture Design, Social & cultural history, 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000, DESIGN / Furniture, 21st Century, 20th century, c 1900 to c 1999, 21st century, c 2000 to c 2100, Social and cultural history, Modern Period, C 1500 Onwards, HISTORY / Modern / 20th Century / General