Antiques and the Arts Book Review


	Extraordinary Furniture
	By David Linley
Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 100 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10011, 1996, pp. 187, $65, hardcover.

Furniture maker and designer Viscount David Linley, of David Linley Furniture Ltd. and son of England's Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon, has assembled a princely collection of furniture in order to "interest and attract more enthusiastic amateurs like [himself] to a field that sadly seems unfamiliar to most people." International examples taken from both private and public collections are featured (some which have rarely been seen or even photographed in color), representing some of the most unusual pieces ever made. Snowdon's choices are based on his own definitions of rarity, design, craftsmanship and materials, as well as the stories behind their creations. Chapters are divided as to "Extraordinary Extravagance" (featuring the Badminton Cabinet and a jewel cabinet by Jean-Henri Riesener), "Extraordinary Design" (with chairs by Frank Lloyd Wright and Shaker storage cabinets along with Empress Josephine's bed), "Extraordinary Craftsmanship" (a sofa by John Henry Belter, the Nerli-Morelli Cassoni, and a pietre dure commode by Martin Carlin), "Extraordinary Inventiveness" (a mechanical desk by Giovanni Socci), and "Extraordinary Alternatives" (featuring creations by Gaudi, Bugatti and sculptor Wendell Castle). Information on each piece's maker (if known) and provenance is given and the examples (65 in all) are beautifully photographed; Linley should easily accomplish his goal of attracting "enthusiastic amateurs" by keeping his approach, as he calls it, "light-hearted" and "non-academic." It is rumored that the viscount will expand his Pimlico shop in 1997 to include a home furnishings section featuring ornate wooden and upholstered pieces and household items. Extraordinary Furniture should be both an excellent publicity vehicle and a hard act to follow.

Extraordinary Furniture

By David Linley