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Adam Bowett is establishing something of a name for himself as a 'revisionist' furniture historian. In an essay published in 1999, Bowett alluded to the insular construction of the history of furniture, suggesting that 'we should question very closely the accretion of received wisdom which constitutes the present state of knowledge'. This new publication builds on Bowett's earlier book (2002) on the history of furniture in the period 1660-1714 and continues his project to challenge the established knowledge structures of furniture history by de-bunking such 'myths' as that of the 'Queen Anne' chair and of the 'Age of Walnut'. Bowett rightly directs critical attention to some of the canonical texts of furniture history and asks searching questions of the legacy and the objectivity of the scholarship that first began to map out the chronology and discursive frameworks of furniture history during the 1920s and 1930s.
The focus of the book is again on English furniture, specifically on London-made furniture, with detailed discussion of general furniture types, from case furniture and...