Introduction. A book about looking ; Wood: how it affects design and signals the authentic and the fake ; "Buy it ratty and leave it alone" revisited ; Ratty: a case study -- The seventeenth century. Order and integration ; Which chair is fake and why? ; The immediate beauty of Hadley chests ; Early repainting -- The William and Mary style. Tall and precarious ; American freedom -- The Queen Anne style. Besotted by the beauty of a Queen Anne leg ; Bold Boston forms ; Mixing new with old ; Enriched surfaces: imitating expensive surfaces and transforming awkward forms -- The Rococo period and Chippendale style. Rococo in America ; Urban: elaborate, plain, and vernacular ; Regional differences: Massachusetts and Philadelphia chairs ; Urban and rural case pieces: elaborate and plain ; A Connecticut maker's transference of Philadelphia high-style forms ; The value of a trained eye ; Uniqueness, rarity, and the marketing of Newport masterpieces in the 1990s -- Two phases of the Federal period. The neoclassical style ; Neoclassical chairs ; The late neoclassical look: greater mass and movement ; Multi-part dining tables ; The Greco-Roman style ; The French connection ; Rural freedom ; Rural vernacular neoclassicism ; Classicism and the Shakers -- Modern practices. A plethora of styles and the revival of American designs.
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