Bookshelf
Alumni and faculty members who would like to have their books considered for this listing should contact Stacey Himmelberger, editor of Hamilton magazine. This list, which dates back to 2018, is updated periodically with books appearing alphabetically on the date of entry.
American Furniture, 1650-1840: Highlights from the Philadelphia Museum of Art by Alexandra Alevizatos Kirtley ’93
March 15, 2023
Tags Alumni Book
(New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2021).
This beautifully illustrated book by Kirtley, the Montgomery-Garvan Curator of American Decorative Arts at the Philadelphia Museum of Arts, marks the first publication dedicated to one of the finest collections of its type in the country. The publisher notes, “Best known for furniture by artisans from Philadelphia and southeastern Pennsylvania, the museum’s collection includes significant examples from cities and regions farther afield. Interpretive texts for each work focus on design sources, showing how early American furniture participated in an international visual language. A vibrant local economy was bolstered by coastal trade bringing Caribbean mahogany and European imports that continued to influence local production. By the 1740s Philadelphia had developed a distinctive idiom and led the developing nation in style and aesthetics. This volume provides an important resource for scholars of American furniture, illuminates the cultural and mercantile life of the fledgling nation, and offers a lively introduction to the donors, curators, and personalities who have shaped the institution from its earliest days to the present.”
Contact
Stacey Himmelberger
Editor of Hamilton magazine
