Furniture with Meaning - 2 volumes

The book “Furniture with meaning” is written by one of Denmark’s most highly acknowledged art historians specialising in the history of art & craft and industrial art, Dr. Phil.Mirjam Gelfer-Jørgensen, former chief librarian at the library of the Danish Museum of Art & Design.
In an international context, Danish furniture-making from the period of 1840 through 1920 – an entire era – was characterized by a high degree of artistic quality and craftsmanship. The furniture of the time laid the groundwork for the international recognition that Danish Furniture was later to gain. The book describes the development of cabinetmaking and its importance for the Danish furniture design as well as the international and modern perspective that characterised the period leading up to the 1920s with their functionalism and more puritanical outlook.
The title of the book clearly states that every carving and decoration, every profile and ornamentation springs from careful deliberation and creative ambition – the form is based on meaning and a far cry from stylistic confusion. The era featured intense collaboration among formidable cabinetmakers and talented furniture designers, many of whom were also building architects: Nebelong, Dahlerup, Kampmann, P.V.Jensen-Klint, Nyrop, and Rosen. But designers and craftspeople such as Frølich, Bindesbøll, Slott-Møller and Rohde also created beautiful and unique pieces of furniture for the burgeoning middleclass. The art of furniture-making was thriving. Mirjam Gelfer-Jørgensen’s two-volume work tells the story of a previously neglected section of our common cultural history, which had a powerful impact on the entire 20th century. Therefore the book also draws lines to current home design and furniture.

The book is written and structured as a reference book and contains more than 700 illustrations, including new photographs, a wealth of beautiful drawings and informative captions. Easy to read.

“Mirjam Gelfer-Jørgensen has written a master piece about Danish furniture design from an age when the imagination and the desire for decoration set the agenda”, Lars Hedebo, Politiken, 6 March 2010
 
“… two beautiful and entertaining books to flip through, enjoying the illustrations.And if one dives into the text, one discovers a wealth of information in terms of design history, industry and craft and with regard to the provenance of the individual pieces of furniture, that is, their previous owners and history,” Allan de Waal, Information, 11 March 2010.