Bibliography

The theme world of antique furniture and clocks is huge. I will probably always learn something new and still never know everything. And that is why I am so glad that there are experts and scholars who share their great expertise in their respective special fields with me and with all of us... in books!

Researching with reference books

I use books for all my research. My collection of literature on the subject of 18th and 19th century furniture and clocks comprises about 300 reference books.

During my traineeship at an auction house, working with scholarly literature was part of my daily routine—and it's something that continues to benefit me to this day. It was then that I learned how to conduct focused research and which books to consult for which objects.

Looking up literature references, which you'll find for most of the pieces in my collection, still brings me great joy. And even though I now know exactly where to look, the search often takes much longer than necessary—because once I open a book, I rarely close it again right away...

Among others, I work with the following books:

Reference books antique furniture

Very clear work with 440 well-matched photos. Written in Dutch, it covers furniture from the Late Baroque, Rococo, Transition, Neoclassicisme, Directoire and Empire periods.
Reference book on courtly furniture, especially from Baden-Württemberg. In the book we find essays on room concepts and living situations at court and in castles of southwest Germany, as well as expertise on guilds and cabinetmakers of the late 18th and early 19th century.
This book is also highly recommended for those interested in the work of Abraham and David Röntgen, as well as Heinrich Gambs.
Good reference work on furniture from 17th and 18th century town houses and manor houses. The illustrations are well and clearly arranged according to the region of origin of the furniture. Recommended reference book.
Reference book on the most interesting pieces of furniture from the Neuwied art furniture manufactory. Detailed descriptions, partly with crack drawings. Numerous black and white illustrations.
Reference work on German Baroque, Rococo and Classicist furniture. Sorted by regions of origin of the furniture, mainly black and white photographs.
2500 years of European furniture art. From antiquity to modernity. This book is rather unsuitable as a reference work for "everyday furniture" because it covers a very wide range of topics and only deals with a few very special pieces of furniture in the individual topics.
Antiques catalogue, well sorted by furniture types. Mainly black and white photos. ISBN: 3894411996
Very clear reference work for Biedermeier furniture from Germany and the Danube Monarchy. Well sorted furniture catalogue, background knowledge is conveyed in an understandable and interesting way.
The reference book "Biedermeier Worlds" by Rainer Haaff is a very good reference work for German Biedermeier furniture. The furniture is clearly organised, with good photos and concise short descriptions.
Well-assorted reference book with oak furniture from Baroque to Art Nouveau. The book deals primarily with bourgeois and rural furniture from German-speaking countries.
The standard work on furniture and home decor in the German Empire on 656 pages. A total of 2700 objects are illustrated with descriptions and market prices.
Well sorted reference book on Louis-Philippe / second rococo furniture. In German and English with current market prices.
The many different styles of historicism have been organised into meaningful chapters in this book. Well illustrated and clearly organised reference book. A highly recommended reference work.
The standard work for German antique softwood furniture from Baroque, Louis XVI and Biedermeier to Gründerzeit and Art Nouveau.
Recommended beginner
Clear beginner
Published by Orbis Verlag, edited by experts from the oldest and most famous auction house for art and antiques.
This reference book deals with the work of Philipp Ferdinand Ludwig Bartscher, probably the best-known furniture maker in Westphalia at the end of the 18th century.
Furniture catalogue of the collection of the Museum für Angewandte Kunst in Cologne. 542 pages, sorted by epoch.
Important reference work on the great furniture and cabinetmaking art of Dresden in the 18th century. Numerous and well-chosen illustrations of high-quality pieces of furniture with interesting background knowledge.
Important reference work on Biedermeier domestic culture. Very clearly arranged catalogue with numerous good illustrations as well as short and precise descriptions of the pieces of furniture.
Comprehensive overview of furniture making in German-speaking countries from 1770-1830. Ideal reference work with over 500 photos of furniture from the art trade, all precisely described and dated.
Anyone who has a classicist or baroque secretary at home and would like to find out more about their piece of furniture is strongly advised to read this book.
The book is clearly organised according to era and region of manufacture.
Comprehensive reference work for Baroque and Classicist furniture with around 700 (black and white) illustrations.
Ein unverzichtbares Werk zur südwestdeutschen Möbelkunst im 18. Jahrhundert, das sich umfassend der stilistischen Entwicklung und der konstruktiven Ausführung barocker Möbel aus dem Raum Württemberg und Hohenlohe widmet.
A practice-orientated reference work on bourgeois furniture art of the 18th century with a focus on German-speaking countries. The book provides in-depth knowledge on the design, construction and use of wood in Baroque furniture.
The Munich Residence is home to a unique collection of historical furniture. In this second book of the three-part series, the German Baroque furniture in the collection is described in pictures and text.
Probably the most important standard work on German Baroque and Rococo furniture of the 18th century.
The historically grown furniture collection of the Nymphenburg and Schleißheim summer residences spans the 18th and 19th centuries, focussing on the Régence and Rococo, Classicism, Empire and Biedermeier eras.
The residential palace of the Margraves of Brandenburg-Ansbach with its complete collection of historical furniture is a jewel of German furniture history. Because of their firm artistic and historical embedding, the Ansbach furniture has always been regarded as key objects of 18th century German furniture making.
This publication is the first to comprehensively document the furniture inventory and the surviving master carpenters of Mainz from the 18th and early 19th centuries. The focus is on the craftsmanship and design quality of the furniture created in the regional guild system
Catalogue volume on French furniture art of the 18th century in the Munich Residence. With numerous illustrations and classification in the cultural-historical context of the Bavarian court.
Academic volume accompanying the exhibition on the 200th anniversary of David Roentgen
This richly illustrated catalogue sheds light on the ceremonial context of courtly furniture and furnishings in the Munich Residence, showing important pieces of furniture and furnishings from the Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo, Classicism and Empire periods.
The catalogue for the exhibition Möbel à la Roentgen sheds light on the artistic and technical environment of the Neuwied furniture manufactory of Abraham and David Roentgen. In addition to the well-known work of the Roentgens themselves, the focus is particularly on their employees - craftsmen with sometimes highly specialised skills who made a significant contribution to the perfection of mechanical furniture and the further development of decorative techniques.
Accompanying publication on the 250th birthday of the Fulda furniture maker Johann Adam Sauer (1745-1822). The volume documents the life and work of the important furniture maker on the basis of archive finds, biography, workshop history and craftsmanship environment.
The book comprises 405 pages of richly illustrated texts on the history and design of Franconian furniture in colour from the 18th to the 20th century, with a focus on the 19th century.
The book Bergische Möbel by H. H. Krielke offers a comprehensive cultural and art-historical study of furniture production in the Bergisches Land region. It centres on the development of typical regional furniture forms from the early 18th century to the 19th century.
The richly illustrated catalogue documents the Flensburg Museum
The surviving portfolio of drawings by the Stuttgart ebenist Johannes Klinkerfuß (1770-1831) is an extraordinary document of southern German arts and crafts at the beginning of the 19th century.
This publication documents the life, work and workshop practice of Friedrich Gottlob Hoffmann (1741-1806), one of the leading German furniture makers of the Classicist period.
In this book, Thomas M. Dann offers a well-founded cultural-historical analysis of rural furniture in Lippe.
The book contains over 500 black and white illustrations and brief descriptions of the objects shown, including details of provenance, style types, materials and design features.
This standard work on furniture studies contains numerous true-to-scale technical drawings and provides basic knowledge about the formal and technical development of historical furniture from the Middle Ages to the Biedermeier period.
This extensively illustrated work illuminates the entire spectrum of Danish neoclassical furniture art between 1790 and 1850, and the English edition makes this hitherto little-studied period of Danish furniture history internationally accessible.
This monumental survey work covers the development of furniture art from antiquity to modern times
Based on decades of research, the book analyses stylistic elements, decorative forms and technical details of furniture by selected masters of the Stockholm cabinetmakers
This reference book is dedicated to the stylistic and typological analysis of Italian furniture art of the 17th and 18th centuries. It offers a systematic presentation of regional characteristics of furniture design and places these in an art and cultural-historical context.
This richly illustrated volume deals with regional styles in Tuscany, northern Italy, Veneto, Liguria, Rome and southern Italy, highlighting characteristic features of furniture design in each case.
This reference work offers a comprehensive overview of three centuries of European furniture history on over 750 pages - from Rococo to Classicism, Historicism and Art Nouveau to Art Deco.
The comprehensive exhibition catalogue Biedermeier. The Invention of Simplicity explores the significance of Biedermeier in Central Europe between 1815 and 1848, focussing on furniture, home decor, painting, graphic art, fashion, glass and porcelain.
Georg Himmelheber
The third volume of the inventory catalogue The Furniture of the Munich Residence documents the development of courtly furnishing culture from Empire to Biedermeier and late Classicism.
This collection catalogue documents the Munich City Museum
Katrin Heise
This compact handbook offers a well-founded introduction to the development, regional diversity and typological differentiation of Biedermeier furniture, which is characterised by functionality, constructive clarity and simple elegance.
This compendium provides a generally understandable overview of the home decor and furniture art of the Biedermeier period.
The work systematically documents the achievements and structures of the Mainz cabinetmakers of the early 19th century, including Wolfgang Knussmann, Wilhelm Kimbel and Anton Bembé.
The large number of original masterpieces and their juxtaposition with surviving pieces of furniture allow well-founded conclusions to be drawn about regional stylistic features, changes in form and transitions from Classicism to Biedermeier in the Braunschweig area.
This richly illustrated catalogue volume by Heidrun Zinnkann sheds light on the stylistic differences and similarities of Biedermeier furniture in Germany, Austria, Hungary, Denmark and Scandinavia in the period 1815-1835.
A solid introduction to the Biedermeier period, with a focus on home decor, furniture and social change between 1815 and 1848.
The work is the third volume of the standard work on German furniture art and deals with the epochs of Classicism, Historicism and Art Nouveau in three main chapters.
The 750-page publication provides a good basis for analysing the Biedermeier period, and not just in furniture making.
Excellent reference work for all Biedermeier furniture. Characterised by simple, clear lines, reduced ornamentation, high-quality veneer patterns and solid craftsmanship.
A clear reference book with numerous illustrations that facilitate the dating and regional categorisation of 18th and 19th century English furniture.
A beginner-friendly guide to English furniture with an art-historical approach.
This richly illustrated work offers a compact presentation of English furniture art from the early 19th century to the early 20th century.
The book is an indispensable reference work for provenance research on 19th century French furniture.
The work deals with sculptors as well as porcelain and bronze artists and illuminates the various forms of expression and phases of the Louis XV style.
This volume offers an overview of French furniture from the Louis XIV, Régence, Louis XV and Louis XVI periods with a sound art-historical basis.
This book documents the transition from the Régence style to the Louis XV style in French furniture making.
This book documents the transitional phase from the Louis XV to the Louis XVI style in French furniture making.
Specialised book in French with a particular focus on 18th and 19th century furniture.
An interesting book for anyone interested in the technical components of historical furniture in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Vividly designed volume on French furniture art of the first half of the 19th century.
An attractively illustrated overview of French furniture from the second half of the 19th century.
A well-founded work on French furniture from the period after the Revolution to the Empire
A comprehensive overview of furniture art and interior design in Italy during the Empire period.
A fundamental work on Alsatian furniture art of the 18th century.
This volume documents the history of marquetry art in Europe with a focus on 18th century furniture.
The first and still authoritative monograph on Bernard Molitor (1755-1833), one of the last royal ebenists of the Ancien Régime.
This comprehensive monograph honours the life
A large-format, richly illustrated catalogue on the European furniture art of historicism in the second half of the 19th century.
Comprehensive monograph on Russian furniture art in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
Lagerquist examines Rococo furniture production in Stockholm between 1740 and 1780, presents leading masters such as Georg Haupt and Gottlieb Iwersson and documents for the first time systematically the carpenters
Torsten Sylvén
Comprehensive exhibition catalogue on the work of the court cabinetmaker Georg Haupt (1741-1784) in Stockholm. The book deals with Haupt
This catalogue compares modern Viennese designs from around 1900 with their historical predecessors from around 1800, focusing on furniture, metal, glass, textiles and ceramics.

Reference books antique clocks

The book offers over 2,500 illustrations in two volumes on the subject of grandfather clocks and is an indispensable reference work for clockmakers, collectors and restorers.
The second volume of this comprehensive standard work on the subject of antique grandfather clocks deals in detail with the stylistic development of English dials and case types.
A practice-orientated handbook on the subject of French marble and slate clocks, especially from the middle and second half of the 19th century.
A fundamental standard work on the Dutch grandfather clock of the 18th century.
This fundamental reference work lists more than 7,000 Swedish and Finnish watchmakers and is probably the most important directory of its kind for the Nordic region.
Very descriptive reference book on the subject of figurative bronze pendulums of the late 18th and early 19th century.
The second volume of A Journey Through Clocks is dedicated to the so-called "Pendules au Noir" - French figurative clocks from the late 18th and early 19th centuries, whose depictions take up African or colonial motifs.
A wide-ranging reference book on the subject of antique clocks. For a long time, it was a standard reference work for the German-speaking market.
Illustrated overview of antique clocks of all types and from all eras.
In-depth presentation of the development of English floor clocks, focussing on the 18th and 19th centuries.
Comprehensive cultural-historical classification of astronomical clocks, celestial globes, armillary spheres and automata.
An illustrative work on the history and technology of clocks in Europe, focussing on the 18th and 19th centuries.
The book is regarded as the standard German-language work on the subject of pendulums and floor clocks from England, France, Holland, Sweden and the German-speaking regions.
Examination of the role and function of magnificent clocks in the palaces of the Hohenzollern dynasty in the late 17th and 18th centuries.
Standard work on the history and development of the Pendule d
Comprehensive catalogue of the 18th and 19th century table clocks and mantel clocks owned by the Spanish Patrimonio Nacional.
Well-founded study of French bronze pendulum clocks from the period from Louis XV to the Empire. English translation of the standard German-language work "Die französische Bronzeuhr".
The most important specialised book on the subject of the Westphalian longcase clock in the 18th and 19th centuries with numerous illustrations and precise object descriptions.
Comprehensive work on the art of European clockmaking, focussing on table clocks, wall clocks and grandfather clocks.
Well-illustrated reference book on the French pendulum from the 17th to the early 19th century.
Comprehensive work on precision clocks from England, France, Germany and the USA with a focus on the 18th - early 20th century.
Illustrated cultural history of timekeeping from the earliest water clocks of Ancient Egypt to modern wristwatches.
The book is regarded as a standard work that deals exclusively with skeleton clocks. It documents the great variety of these precision and ornamental clocks.
Interesting book on the subject of the "Bergische grandfather clock" of the 18th and 19th centuries.
This book is the third part of a three-volume series on the art of French watchmaking.
This book is the second part of a three-volume series on the art of French watchmaking.
This book is the first part of a three-volume series on the art of French watchmaking.
On display are primarily clocks from the 18th century; wall clocks, grandfather clocks, mantel clocks; fine and highly precise timepieces of the highest quality.
Important standard work on the Comtoise clock with a comprehensive historical account from the 17th century to the 20th century.
The work offers a comprehensive overview of the development of timepieces from the earliest forms to the modern era.
This comprehensive reference work lists over 36,000 watchmakers from all over the world. Mainly from England.
Supplementary volume to G. H. Baillie
The directory now includes around 90,000 clockmakers, dealers and manufacturers of scientific instruments from the late 16th to the early 20th century.
With around 23,000 entries, this is the most comprehensive directory of French watchmakers.
The directory contains over 14,000 names and brands of watchmakers and manufacturers of mechanical watches from the German-speaking world.
The most important directory of Dutch watchmakers with names, locations and dates of birth and death.
Berlin clockmakers gained not only regional but also national significance. They are recorded and listed by name in this directory.
The book offers a comprehensive overview of the history and technology of the Atmos clock from Jaeger LeCoultre and also contains a detailed catalogue of the models produced up to 1997.
This reference work systematically documents the trade marks and company stamps of clock manufacturers from Austria, England, France, Germany and Switzerland in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
A study of French bronze clocks with figurative depictions of gods, heroes, everyday scenes and love scenes. In addition to the technical aspects, the author Elke Niehüser describes above all the thematic and art-historical significance of the bronzes. The work is supplemented by an overview of 1365 documented bronze clocks.

Reference books on other antiques

Frits Janmaat
Important bilingual standard work on the history and development of safes from antiquity to the early 20th century. With extensive illustrations, details on the history of technology, regional developments and dating criteria.
Standard work on French bronze sculpture of the 19th century with a detailed catalogue of artists, foundry lists and work data.

The short descriptions of the books listed are mostly taken from the tables of contents or blurb texts and are the intellectual property of the respective authors and publishers.

Bandelwerk

By the term bandelwerk we understand narrow and symmetrically curved bands inlaid in marquetry technique.


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Half-pillar

We call a half-column a column that only half protrudes from the wall.


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