EARLY SEATING Upholstery-Reading the Evidence - Hardcover

Leroy Graves

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0879352787 ISBN 13: 9780879352783

Publisher: Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 2015

Synopsis

After decades of ignoring or discarding historic upholstery, collectors and museums are now giving it the respect that it deserves. That's in large part due to the groundbreaking contributions made by Colonial Williamsburg conservator Leroy Graves. Little upholstery from the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries has survived in America as rooms were redecorated or fabrics wore out or went out of fashion. Indeed, by the twentieth century, the upholstering processes were themselves largely lost. Graves shows how to "read the evidence" on existing upholstery and furniture frames and in period images and documentation, and is the process he illuminates the aesthetics and methods of early upholsterers. In Early Seating Upholstery, Graves examines the structure and components of furniture frames and upholstery materials, chronicles the evolution of upholstery fashions and techniques, and presents detailed case studies of side chairs, back stools, armchairs, easy chairs, settees, sofas, and couches. Graves also illustrates his pioneering method of conservation, describing step-by-step the treatments of a bare frame of a side chair and an easy chair with surviving foundation upholstery and show material.

About this title

About the Author:

With nearly fifty years of service at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Leroy Graves is one of the world's leading upholstery conservators. His noninstrusive techniques for restoring upholstery have been adapted by museums around the world.

Review:

Early Seating Upholstery provides a behind-the-scenes (and under-the cushions) look at 18th-and early 19th-century upholstered furniture, detailing the work of the 20th-century man who revolutionized the way such pieces are conserved today. ... The book is at once a history of upholstered seating and a look into the clues each piece sheds to understanding the when, where and how it was made and used. Once and for all, the definitive techniques of a renowned member of Williamsburg's conservation staff are put forth so that others might learn from him and carry on the tradition. Conservators and curators, historians and history buffs alike will no doubt treasure the handsome volume. --Antique Week

This long awaited publication caps the thirty-five year career of Leroy Graves as a conservator at Colonial Williamsburg. ... Graves, along with a half-a-dozen conservators in other institutions, invented the study of American historic upholstery. ...Early Seating Upholstery will be extremely useful to collectors. --Antiques and Fine Art

Early upholstered furniture has long been misunderstood--misinterpreted into thickly padded, comfortable but voluminous chair and sofas at odds with their designers' intentions. Leroy Graves shows what period upholstery was really like--and how to preserve pieces for future Generations. ...Early Seating Upholstery ...will forever change how you look at and understand period antique furniture. --Early American Life

About this edition

• Publisher: Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 0879352787
• ISBN 13: 9780879352783
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 225
• Editor: Colonial Williamsburg
• Illustrator: Designed By Shanin Glenn, Photography By Craig McDougal, Additional Photography By Jason Copes