Vintage 1939 Century Furniture Company Grand Rapids Michigan Show Catalog Book

Description: Vintage 1939 Century Furniture Company Grand Rapids Michigan Show Catalog Book. FURNITURE PREFACE ENERALLY speaking, the American people as a whole are acquiring a better apprecia- tion of the beauty and refining influences of good furniture. G This rather broad statement is accurate in that it reflects the cultural growth of our nation. Modern taste in furniture, as in music and in literature, is founded upon a fairly wide-spread understanding of fundamentals. Good furniture (not necessarily expensive furniture) is furniture designed along certain lines of harmony and symmetry which will be beautiful always. And furniture so designed is independent of transitory style preferences. It has a reason for living, even after a temporary popular demand may have ceased. Today, the better pieces of furniture may be reproductions of the earlier masterpieces, or they may be intelligent modern adaptations of certain historic styles. It is this historic significance embodied in a piece of furniture that makes the study of furniture absorbing to the layman; and makes the ownership of good furniture gratifying to the home-builder. It is of small significance whether the present popularity of "period" furniture grew out of a unanimous cultural revolt against the furnishings ----------- 3 ----------- FURNITURE from foreign countries brought back new ideas of exotic art, which either received popular favor or were adopted and employed by the artists and the craftsmen of the day. Always there was more or less blending of period styles. borrowed freely from the designers of another. Foreign ideas were adapted to native tastes; and as a result, the best thoughts of many countries frequently were combined. This in itself makes difficult the identification of cer- tain very fine pieces of furniture; for indeed, one may find an Italian piece designed in the manner of the French, who in turn had been in- fluenced largely by English or Spanish designers. Motifs were adopted and adapted, influenced always by the racial preferences and social life of the people. The designers of one country Then, too, there was always an intermixture of styles during the transitional periods as tastes changed. An outstanding example of this is noticed in the transition from the sturdy William and Mary style to the lighter and more feminine Queen Anne, in which elements of both styles are gracefully incorporated. Notwithstanding this commingling of artistic thought and its interpretation in various woods, furniture styles and periods are quite well defined and classified. Modern furniture draws its inspiration liber- ally from the past and adds the ingenuity of modern craftsmanship and modern machinery, ----------- 4 ----------- together with all that modern designing has telligent study, innate ability, creative imagina- FURNITURE learned from the Golden past. accomplish all this, however, requires in. tion, excellent craftsmanship and the will to do Lumber and machinery cannot substitute for the human mind, even in a day of quantity produc- tion. And it is this human element that has made the inanimate products of the Century Furniture Company of Grand Rapids, Michigan, fit to live and to endure. As a true exponent of high ideals and qualifica- tions, more and more has the name Century become synonymous with all that is best in furniture throughout America. Authentic repro- ductions of the best designs the past can offer, intelligent application of the more pleasing motifs by which the furniture of various periods is identified, extremely discriminating and com- prehensive selection of woods, finishes and upholstery, together with unsurpassed cabinet- making and loving craftsmanship-these are the fundamentals upon which every Century piece is built. Tables, chairs, stools, sofas, window-seats, cabinets, deep luxurious overstuffed pieces, together with living room, dining room and bedroom furniture, and library combinations are included in the products from Grand Rapids bearing the Century Shopmark. ----------- 3 ----------- name to conjure with in furniture circles. And beginnings by a few of the better makers, aided and encouraged by the enlightened taste of the of the past century, or developed from small FURNITURE more sophisticated buyers. But this is true: that "period" has become a since this book is devoted chiefly to a study of the various periods, the word deserves definition as applied to furniture. Period furniture is nothing more or less than that furniture which was favored, or obtained popularity, during a certain historical era in a certain country. In the beginning, furniture invariably was utilitarian in its purpose. Embellishments fol- lowed as a natural desire of human beings to make more attractive that with which they lived. The shifting tastes and vogues in furniture styles were occasioned by many influences. The ascendency to the throne of a new mon- arch frequently marked the beginning of a new era in furniture and decorative styles, because the people were quick to accept any type that had received royal favor. In England during the 18th Century, however, several designers were so outstanding that their names, instead of the names of the reigning monarchs, now identify their productions. Religion played a very important rôle in the changes in furniture styles, So did politics. Certain feminine influences at court were respon- sible for characteristic designs, patterns and color schemes. Frequently, travelers returning

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