The mid-20th century was one of the most popular, collectable and dynamic periods of international design. Drawing on the inventive style of the era, this range of gift products features exclusive illustrations of iconic mid-century designs, from Eames chairs to Poul Henningsen lamps and George Nelson clocks, all rendered in a distinctive graphic style. Featuring over ninety pieces by sixty designers and design duos, Mid-Century Modern: Icons of Design is arranged chronologically, and includes chairs, tables, storage, lighting, and product and industrial design. Each spread includes a graphic depiction of the piece and a concise text. The models, materials and designers index offers easy reference through the book.

Decoupage (from the French, decoupe, meaning to cut out) entails gluing cut-out pictures to an object and covering with varnish. It's a fun and easy way to decorate just about anything, from small household items to large pieces of furniture. Find out just how simple it is to personalize your favorite things with these twelve gorgeous projects, suitable for beginners and also as a source of inspiration for those who have already got some experience with this lovely craft.

Master key carpentry skills, from simple joinery techniques to fine woodworking. Learn about basic woodworking techniques to more advanced types of wood joints, finishing, woodturning, and furniture restoration. This book provides all the information you need to become a master carpenter. It's the ultimate step-by-step guide to essential woodworking tips and tricks. Inside the pages of this beginners guide, you'll find: - Over 100 key techniques and 20 easy projects to get you started - Clear step-by-step photography and easy-to-follow instructions - Advice on all major wood types and veneers and how to use them - Tips and tricks on restoring old furniture This visual guide is packed with clear instructions, detailed photography, and expert advice on how to master more than 20 woodcraft techniques such as joinery and finishing. Discover how to get the best out of your woodworking tools by learning how to use and maintain them. This informative guide also includes a visual directory of all major wood types and veneers, explaining what they are best used for and tips on how to work with them. Woodworking 101 This updated edition includes a fresh design and brand-new photography making the step-by-step techniques and projects even clearer to understand. The ideal gift for Father's Day, or for anyone who's looking for an introduction to carpentry. Complete the Series: Fully illustrated and easy to use, the DK Step by Step series covers all the essential skills and techniques you need to succeed in a specific activity. Once you've mastered key carpentry skills with Woodwork Step by Step, sharpen up your survival skills with Knots Step by Step.

Classic Calligraphy for Beginners introduces the fundamental techniques for mastering two classic calligraphic scripts, Copperplate and Spencerian, plus easy-to-follow exercises and fun, modern projects. Guided by instructions and illustrations by noted calligraphy artist and teacher Younghae Chung, you will: Get a detailed yet concise overview of tools, supplies, and terminology Try out your materials with basic warm-ups and nib exercises Learn the essential principles or strokes and create the lowercase and uppercase letters of the featured scripts Take your letters to the next level and add flourishes with confidence Explore brush pens and non-flexible writing tools to emulate the look of calligraphy on large-scale and unusual surfaces Reinforce core skills by applying the scripts to a variety of simple, modern projects on paper, wood, glass, fabric, and other surfaces, and get inspiring tips on how to add beautiful details that lend a modern touch Find sample guide sheets for Copperplate, Spencerian, and brush calligraphy Discover the timeless beauty of calligraphy with Classic Calligraphy for Beginners.

George Bankart first wrote The Art of the Plasterer in 1908. It was then re-issued, with amendments, a few years later. Now available from Donhead as a facsimile edition, this impressive, well illustrated volume offers an artistic interpretation of the way plaster was used in response to stylistic changes. Bankart was an architect inspired by the Arts & Crafts movement who cared passionately about the craft of plastering and sought to complement Millar's earlier craftsman's book by producing a volume which traced the history and art of plastering throughout the United Kingdom. It explores in detail how plaster materials and methods were developed and used, giving a fascinating insight into some of the unusual substances added to plaster. For instance, he tells us that ancient stuccos sometimes contained fig juice, curdled milk, blood or beer to make them harder. The book also contains an account of wattle and dab as well as parge-work, using practical illustrated examples to give an excellent description and record of the subject. With over 400 illustrations, comprising black and white photographs and drawings of ceilings and the profiles of mouldings, this volume will be of value to craftsmen engaged in plasterwork, conservation professionals and all architects and architectural historians with an interest in this field.

Peter Lloyd shares his skills and excellence in producing exquisite, solid wood boxes. Their seductive, satin-smooth finish and fine detailing beg to be touched and demonstrate beautifully Peter's trademark of using no material other than wood - even for the hinges. Follow his original designs, with clear, step-by-step instructions and photography with full plans, to achieve one-off pieces to be proud of.

The prowess of Chinese creative abilities in the decorative arts in the 19th and early 20th centuries was well known globally, but, while much has been written about Chinese textiles and on the influence of the East on European styles of the time, the story of the influence of Western formats and tastes on the manufacture of Chinese jewellery in the period has, amazingly, never been told. In examining 50 objects of exatraordinary quality from an important private North American collection, this book seeks to redress the situation and reveal the splendour of silver and silver-gilt jewellery of the late Qing dynasty. An ancient and sophisticated culture, the Chinese - who have since records begun made up about a quarter of world's population - had almost everything they could need or want within their own borders ...except for silver. The metal had long cultural, commercial and governmental associations but had to be imported largely from South America, after both national and Japanese reserves were quickly exhausted by huge Chinese demand. Beginning in the mid 19th century - where the story told here begins - after two successive defeats in the Opium Wars, sixteen treaty ports were established on coastal and inland cities, enabling Western merchants freer movement and trade with the Chinese. The 50 pieces of jewellery and ornament presented here have been beautifully photographed and carefully documented. In superb unrestored condition, the objects incorporate exotic materials like tiger-shark teeth, teak wood, amber, precious and semi-precious stones from India and Sri Lanka, enamel, as well as finely carved and pierced nephrite, jadeite and lapis lazuli. Daoist imagery and motifs dominate but with the inclusion of some surprising Buddhist imagery as well. Though not from the imperial collection of the Qing, these exquisite pieces were seemingly commissioned and worn by prosperous members of the society from all over the vast country. The differences in manufacture, even in this varied sample of 50 items, is striking. Their appeal is more than just aesthetic, and their design and decoration speak of the social, religious, economic and political climate of their time. Questions regarding the sale and consumption of these object are discussed, and changing local and foreign tastes in the wake of the fall of the Qing dynasty and the establishment of the Republican period are also addressed.

Designer and TED star Ingrid Fetell Lee explains how to cultivate a happier, healthier life by making small changes to your surroundings.

When did you last feel joy? Changing your surroundings is the most easily accessible source in finding joy, says Ingrid Fetell Lee, former Design Director of IDEO New York.

In Joyful, she explains it's time to open our eyes to the physical world. By making small but powerful changes to the things around us, we can live happier, healthier lives.

Her TED talk has been viewed over 10 million times.

‘This book has the power to change everything’ Susan Cain

‘A completely original treatment of a completely new and original idea’ Arianna Huffington

A new approach to the work of self-taught artist James Castle that focuses on how his drawings and practice resonate with earlier masters Drawing on the collections of the William Louis-Dreyfus Foundation and the James Castle Collection and Archive, this volume features more than 90 of James Castle’s (1899–1977) landscapes and architectural-interior views, including works that have never been published before. Broadening the discussion of Castle’s work beyond the common emphasis on the role of the artist’s deafness and isolation in rural Idaho, Larry J. Feinberg places the self-taught artist in a larger artistic and cultural context and foregrounds Castle’s prowess as a draftsman. He shows how the artist’s evocative and unconventional images use techniques such as a “bending,� intuitive perspective and subtle shifts of focus. Comparing the descriptive and expressive effects that Castle achieves in his soot drawings with studies by Rembrandt and showing how Castle’s manipulation of space has much in common with Piranesi and M. C. Escher, this study expands our understanding of the artist’s evocative and unconventional images in new and exciting ways. Distributed for the Santa Barbara Museum of Art Exhibition Schedule: Santa Barbara Museum of Art (June 25–September 17, 2023)

Whittling is more than just a way of busying idle hands - it is a pastime for those who love the texture of wood and a way of life for those who feel a special connection between people and trees. This beautiful and practical guide to the art of whittling offers the perfect antidote to the stresses of modern life and a means of getting back to basics and creating unique items from scratch. Inside you will learn about the ancient art of whittling as one of the earliest forms of artistic expression; the different types of wood to use in your work; the simple tools you need to get started; and the various cutting techniques. The Art of Whittling also preaches the idea of Danish hygge - translating to coziness and being with friends and family in a warm atmosphere. Here, author Niklas Karlsson gives us an insight into why the Danes are considered the happiest people in the world - and how you can bring some hygge into your own lives. More than just a manual, this book offers a contemplative view on a skill that is more popular than ever.

The first major publication devoted to weaver and designer Dorothy Liebes, reinstating her as one of the most influential American designers of the twentieth century At the time of her death, Dorothy Liebes (1897–1972) was called “the greatest modern weaver and the mother of the twentieth-century palette.� As a weaver, she developed a distinctive combination of unusual materials, lavish textures, and brilliant colors that came to be known as the “Liebes Look.� Yet despite her prolific career and recognition during her lifetime, Liebes is today considerably less well known than the men with whom she often collaborated, including Frank Lloyd Wright, Henry Dreyfuss, and Edward Durrell Stone. Her legacy also suffered due to the inability of the black-and-white photography of the period to represent her richly colored and textured works. Extensively researched and illustrated with full-color, accurate reproductions, this important publication examines Liebes’s widespread impact on twentieth-century design. Essays explore major milestones of her career, including her close collaborations with major interior designers and architects to create custom textiles, the innovative and experimental design studio where she explored new and unusual materials, her use of fabrics to enhance interior lighting, and her collaborations with fashion designers, including Clare Potter and Bonnie Cashin. Ultimately, this book reinstates Liebes at the pinnacle of modern textile design alongside such recognized figures as Anni Albers and Florence Knoll. Published in association with Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum  Exhibition Schedule: Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum (July 7, 2023–February 4, 2024)  

The story of an innovative designer and farsighted art entrepreneur and the important role he played in the dissemination of 19th-century Aestheticism This book follows the phenomenal rise of Daniel Cottier (1838-1891) from an apprentice coach painter in Glasgow to the founder of Cottier & Co., a fine and decorative arts business with branches in London, New York, Sydney and Melbourne. This gifted designer and brilliant art entrepreneur keenly spotted one of the key aspects of late nineteenth-century bourgeois culture - its focus on family, home and church - and seized the artistic and commercial opportunities of the building and decorating boom that it brought about. Cottier was a proponent of the Aesthetic movement, an international trend in the history of culture, art and design from the mid-1860s to the late 1890s: he understood the era's desire for beauty and realised the economic possibilities of its commoditisation. Beyond biography, therefore, this book illuminates a significant event of late nineteenth-century cultural history - Aestheticism's cult of beauty meeting with the bourgeoisie's financial ability to possess it. Distributed for the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art

In the past, studies of the history of bookbinding were mainly concerned with the exterior decoration. This book focuses attention primarily on the physical aspects of the binding and its construction principles. It is an expanded version of a series of lectures delivered by the author while Visiting Professor at the University of Amsterdam in 1987, supplemented with the results of ten years of intensive research in major libraries on the Continent, the United Kingdom and the USA. It surveys the evolution of binding structures from the introduction of the codex two thousand years ago to the close of the Middle Ages. Part I reviews the scanty physical evidence from the Mediterranean heritage, the early Coptic, Islamic and Ethiopian binding structures and their interrelation with those of the Byzantine realm. Part II is devoted to a detailed analysis of Western binding techniques, distinguishing the carolingian, romanesque and gothic wooden-board bindings as the main typological entities; their structure and function is compared with those of contemporary limp bindings. The book is illustrated with over 200 drawings and photographs and contains a comprehensive bibliography.

Roger Billcliffe’s ground-breaking catalogue raisonné of the furniture of Charles Rennie Mackintosh first appeared over four decades ago.

This fourth edition has been completely revised and updated to take account of the host of discoveries and developments in Mackintosh scholarship that have taken place since the book’s first publication.

Among the 900 illustrations, many items that were previously shown in black and white now appear in colour.

An impressive and stimulating work of scholarship, this is the only comprehensive work on the furniture of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, the most important British designer and architect since Robert Adam.

After an introduction in which Billcliffe perceptively analyses Mackintosh’s career and scholarly interpretations of it, the main part of the book is arranged as a chronological catalogue of Mackintosh’s work as a furniture designer. In a working life of only 25 years, Mackintosh designed over 300 items of furniture, a number all the more impressive given that the majority of pieces were produced in the periods 1897–1905 and 1916–18.

As well as the entries on individual designs and pieces, the catalogue includes essays on all Mackintosh’s major commissions for interiors and on his designs in general at specific periods of his career.

Contemporary photographs are used extensively to show interiors (many of them now destroyed) as they were at the time of their completion. Untraced pieces of furniture are listed by reference to the job books that record the details of designs by Mackintosh or the firms of which he was a member.

Japanese screens (byobu) are made of wooden lattices with two to twelve panels, covered with a canvas of paper or fabric. Artists, embracing the dynamic format of screens, incorporated shadows and other elements on the canvas to direct the viewer's eye from one panel to the next. Screens are unique for being beautiful artworks as well as lightweight, portable objects, acting as backdrops for court ceremonies or partitions for intimate tea services. This sumptuous book explores the 1,300-year history of screens created in Japan. In the text, leading experts on Japanese art and culture describe how screens developed from the 8th to the 21st century, from their ceremonial use in royal residences and Buddhist temples to their functional and decorative use in the homes of samurai and aristocracy. The authors examines the stylistic evolution of screens and the wide variety of subjects depicted, such as flying dragons, the passing of seasons, monumental battles, and The Tale of Genji. This book includes 250 colour illustrations, many that are reproduced to full page, and shows the screens to their best advantage with a landscape orientation and large-format size. It features Japanese-sewn binding and is kept in a clamshell box, which contains foldout poster reproductions of six screens housed in a separate pocket inside the box. This volume is an elegant addition to the library of any admirer of Japanese art.

Chinoiserie, a decorative style inspired by the art of the Far East, gripped Britain from the late seventeenth to the early nineteenth century. Despite taking its name from the French word for 'Chinese', the style also incorporated influences from other Asian countries, helping to shape the period's popular fantasy of the 'exotic Orient'. Wealthy consumers jostled to obtain imported wallpaper, lacquered cabinets and hand-painted porcelain, while domestic manufacturers such as Royal Worcester and Chippendale met demand with mass-produced items of their own. Though interest in the style waned as the Gothic Revival took hold, many examples of Chinoiserie have been preserved. In this beautifully illustrated book, Richard Hayman tells the story of this fascinating phenomenon, and explores the profound impact of Chinoiserie on the material culture of the West.

New Jewellery Techniques is a detailed and abundantly-illustrated reference book that focuses on the innovative curved score folding for sheet metal techniques to create beautiful, dynamic three-dimensional forms, much like metal origami, in jewelry and metalsmithing. Anastasia Young and Paul Wells, both renowned UK-based jewelers, authors and lecturers, have created a practical visual handbook on curved scoring and folding techniques applied to jewelry and metalsmithing for small objects. The book's clear, hands-on approach, with explanatory photographs for each step, makes it an invaluable resource for established jewelers wishing to learn more about new techniques, jewelry students, home crafters and advanced amateurs. Readers will discover a wealth of information about a variety of ways to score and fold metal and give it different finishes, shaping flat sheets into to visually stunningly organic forms, including guides on the tools needed for each method. A final section contains useful resources, from a detailed analysis of score depth based on the gauge of the wire used (through diagrams to aid design and planning) to information about where to source materials and facts about metalworking and jewelry in general.