Schiffer Books

A wealth of Art Nouveau graphics and original artwork, presented in both print and digital forms. A valuable resource for graphic atists and craftspeople.

Explore innovative ideas for designing and decorating private porches, patios, pagodas, and decks that provide the perfect space for outdoor living and the intimacy of a small room.

This idea-packed compendium presents the work of todays top wood artists in over 500 photos. More than 130 artists from nine countries are showcased, including furniture makers, turners, and sculptors who borrow ideas and techniques from one another to create their art. Teachers of art history, creative art, craft, industrial design, and woodwork will discover new material for teaching about wood as a medium.

As the 1950s dawned, a new level of sexual openness developed in behavior and dress. In magazines and on beaches, women appeared in revealing two-piece bathing suits called bikinis. Bunny Yeager, model and commercial photographer, forged a unique role in 1952, photographing bikinis and the beautiful women who wore them. This collection of Bunny's work from the 1950s features 169 original photographs and featuring little known models and women she helped launch to fame, such as Betty Page. The bikinis they wore were often of Bunny's own creation, sewn with her own hands. She says, My ability helped me sell photographs to men's magazines and compete with male photographers. They didn't know how to sew! Many of her original designs still influence styles today. This collection of photographs, along with Bunny's reflections on her life and career, the models, and the era, make an insightful addition to the literature on this photographic pioneer.

Each gorgeous log home shown here was built with reclaimed timbers that were hand-hewn at least a century ago. The homes vary from small to large, and cover layouts from «erected as found» to modern configurations. One thing they all have in common, though, is that they look the way log homes are supposed to look. Dove-tailed corners, weathered barn wood, antique heart pine, and ancient beams, logs, and posts were used abundantly in their construction. If you're hoping to build such a home for yourself, or expand your existing home with a log addition, this book will provide help and inspiration. Each of the 27 projects featured includes a floor plan perfect for today's lifestyles, while maintaining the integrity of log home construction and preserving the great timbers that sheltered our forebearers.

More than 100 years after the death of designer William Morris, the Arts and Crafts Movement is enjoying a revival, becoming more popular than it was during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Attracted by its attention to quality and design, admirers-from Hollywood stars to young people furnishing their first home-are appreciate the designs from Morris, De Morgan, Dresser, Tinworth, Marshall, Barlow, Pearson, Bell, and many more. This new book celebrates the very best designs in ceramics, furniture, metalwares, and the fine arts. With over 250 color photographs it is a treasure trove of visual information. Some of the world's most renowned experts have contributed their scholarship, including Stephen Calloway, Francis King, Andrew Barlow, John Catleugh, Max Donnelly, Mark Golding, Harry Lyons, Barbara Morris, and Peter Rose. Honesty of purpose, fine craftsmanship, and respect for good design are as valued now as when they first became the tenets of Arts & Crafts philosophy in late-Victorian England. This book is a source of inspiration and education for collectors around the world.

Award-winning photographer Roger Wade takes you on an intimate tour of more than two-dozen exquisite top-end log and timber frame homes. Over 350 color images provide stunning details and sweeping overviews of these impressive residences, individually crafted from beautiful white cedar. Explore dozens of private kitchens and baths. Marvel at the great rooms, soaring ceilings, and enormous fireplaces. Gather decorating ideas for every room, from master suites to home offices and entertainment rooms. Study architectural profiles set amidst idealistic landscapes, and picture yourself retiring to their sweeping decks and sheltered porches. In addition to the beautiful imagery, each home is shown with floor plans that will help you design the home of your dreams.

One of the world's greatest collections of architectural ironwork is on display in the five boroughs of New York City. Author and photographer Diana Stuart captures the magnitude and impressive array of historic exterior designs in 400 color photographs, with background information and the location of each piece included in captions. You will see iron fences, gates, newel posts, balustrades, railings, brackets, lamps, and much more. These stunning artifacts play a major role in the fabric of New York City's streetscape, and artists, designers, and ironworkers will all be inspired by the rich selection of designs found here. This book also serves as an historical record of the amazing wrought ironwork to be found in this amazing outdoor museum — New York City.

Leading landscape architect Signe Nielsen shares her years of experience, and draws on other professional projects to present this incredible design portfolio. Great design ideas are combined with practical tips on transforming an outdoor living space into a personal oasis. Lavishly illustrated with hundreds of examples, this book provides a stunning portfolio of hidden treasures and is packed with innovative and useful suggestions. You will be able to make informed choices for everything from style to plant selection. The book guides you through steps toward composing a sky garden, beginning with key principles of design. Discover endless possibilities for creating a special place, whether a shady nook for relaxation or a dramatic vista for alfresco dining. Bring your airy retreat to life by choosing from eye-catching plant combinations and furniture arrangements. Add the finishing touch with lighting, outdoor sculpture and ornaments, and fountains and other water effects that make a garden uniquely your own. This is an invaluable resource for everyone planning to renovate or build a rooftop, terrace, or balcony garden. With expert advice and images from a leading landscape architect, you will be inspired to express your personality by adapting the ideas to suit your taste, needs, and budget.

In the past ten years, antique textiles, especially those from France, have become very popular for interior decoration. In her easy-to-read style, the author gives a basic history of French textiles from the Middle Ages to Art Deco. 416 beautiful color photographs demonstrate traditional and contemporary uses for tapestries, cottons, linens, laces, embroidery, needlepoint, and trims. Suggestions are given for their use in contemporary interior and home decor. Answers to frequently asked questions are very helpful to the novice and connoisseur alike. The clearly stated text explains how to recognize these fabrics in the marketplace and what to look for when purchasing them. A range of values for the examples shown reflects the current antiques market. This is a book for the general public as well as for designers. Readers will gain the confidence to add a creative touch or note of elegance to their decorations and designs with antique textiles.

Motorcycle jackets have become the symbol of freedom for young people around the world. In this completely new book, with over 1100 color photographs, the jackets are explored in detail and highlighted them with historical photographs. Included are the earliest jackets, racing uniforms, fashions of the Rockers in the United Kingdom, Harley Davidson jackets, and motorcycle jacket art. A guide for valuing jackets is also included.

The German belt buckle has long fascinated collectors. Now this full color volume will help collectors to identify their buckles and avoid purchasing reproductions. They will also find how to date and identify manufacturers marks.

This book will inspire architects, historical restorers, renovators, and homeowners by showing how the architectural features characteristic of turn-of-the-20th century homes were used. Details Include 'gingerbread' trims, towers, encircling porches, balconies, cornices, belvederes, large porte-cocheres, bay windows, ornamental ironwork, elaborate chimneys, and much more. Illustrated with over 300 full color photographs.

Three years in preparation, the authors' fourth book on the World of Wade is now complete. This new full color book by the preeminent experts in the field features Wade ceramic figurines and miniatures from the 1930s through to the present time. With over 2,500 items shown in color and organized in 17 chapters, this comprehensive guide to the popular collectibles has current values both in U.S. dollars and British pounds. Included are many of the highly collectible Wade ladies of the 1930s, nursery rhyme figurines, Irish Wade figurines, and miniature and large animal and bird figurines from the 1930s and 1950s. Also shown are the Whimsey-on-Why village series, early and later Whimsies, Disney miniatures and «Blow-Ups», Christmas party cracker series, and of course the ever popular Canadian and U.S. Red Rose Tea figurines. The highly popular Betty Boop and Arthur Hare figurines are here too. Many special figurines issued by the Official International Wade Collectors Club for its thousands of members throughout the world and many «one-of-a-kind» figurines are shown along with numerous color variations of the miniature premium figurines. One chapter illustrates many figural money banks, figural posy bowls, and specially commissioned pieces by various companies and individuals. Of particular importance to Wade collectors are the notes and illustrations of reissues and reproduction figurines, which always occur when an item becomes so highly collectible and sought after. As with previous books by these authors, there is a complete illustrated list identifying the many Wade backstamps from the late 1800s through to the present. This is a beautiful and valuable book for the thousands of Wade collectors around the world.

Here is a beautiful new look at art jewelry that has a new look. These are todays top art jewelers whose work is often shown in art galleries and museums. Chapters present contemporary designs in gold, silver, mixed metals, found objects, glass, enamel work, and imaginative jewelry pieces that go beyond tradition. Over 540 color photographs and lots of detailed information will inspire jewelry designers and collectors alike.

Concrete pavers are one of the hottest pavements around homes, commercial buildings, and urban spaces. Designers know that the selection of pavement patterns and colors have a big influence on the character of these places. In this book, you'll learn the design vocabulary of basic paving patterns and progress to more intricate variations. Each of the 300-plus color photos demonstrates how specific patterns, colors, and textures enhance every outdoor environment — including patios, walkways, drives, and grand urban plazas. Some of the best projects from across North America illustrate this book. Written for landscape architects, architects, contractors, and homeowners alike, this is the design handbook for concrete pavers. Besides presenting a wealth of ideas, the book will enrich and build your design vocabulary and pattern language using concrete pavers.

Figures of courtesans, gods, demons, special characters, and animals in Japanese export ceramics of the late 19th and early 20th centuries are highly decorative and appealing to many collectors today. This study presents an engaging text and over 300 beautiful color photographs of exquisite and amusing three-dimensional figures in Hirado, Imari, Kutani, Satsuma, Studio works, and Sumida wares. When they came to the popular attention of the Western world at the 1862 International Exposition in London and the 1876 Centennial Fair in Philadelphia, they created a sensation and have held a prominent place in Oriental arts ever since. Marks of the artists appear with their works. This reference will be cherished in every collector's and Asian arts library.

Over 400 ideas for unusual fireplace designs reflect historical styles from Renaissance to Post-Modern. Fire screens, hoods, doors, andirons, grates, tongs, pokers, shovels, brooms, and their stands emerge as significant decorative items in today's homes. You will marvel at the artistry, variety, and craftsmanship.

This revised edition retains all the techniques and inspiration of the original edition that helped many artists find the answers they needed for creating sculpture. New chapters update the history of direct metal sculpture over the past quarter century. One chapter explains the impact public art programs are having on culture in our cities. There are also sections on the impact of the computer, exploring the importance of computer aided design, and the impact of the Internet for successfully marketing ones art.

This new book showcases a vast array of ironwork commissioned for new commercial and residential building projects. Traditional styles in modern settings and designs that reach for new visual impact help to redefine ironwork's status in our current society. There are over 375 spectacular examples from more than 100 of today's top blacksmiths, supplemented with historical works from 15 countries, some derived from old French and English ironwork. These include doors and hardware, staircases and railings, and gates and fences. This book will inspire architects, builders, homeowners, and artist-blacksmiths with the wealth of beautiful ideas it contains.

The antique beaded bag is a most exquisite and sought-after vintage collectible. Over 600 color photographs display hundreds of mostly European handbags, many never before published, including Miser, American Indian, embroidered, drawstring, framed, scenic, Bohemian, and cut steel, with information on care, history, and design technique, and close-up photographs of the intricate beadwork. Detailed captions, a current value guide, a comprehensive bibliography, and an index guarantee this to be the ultimate collector's guide to vintage handbag fashion design.

Fine details of carving and construction are highlighted to demonstrate the best golden oak furniture from American makers at the end of the 19th century. China cabinets, bookcases, chairs, tables and accent forms all are shown in various styles.

Chintz ceramics were introduced in the late 19th century, and rose to great heights of popularity in the first half of the 20th century as they were exported around the world. This classic work, now in its third edition, is better than ever for dealers and collectors. The brilliant floral bouquets adorning chintz ceramics are displayed in nearly 500 gorgeous color photographs. The major English chintz manufacturers, Royal Winton, James Kent, Lord Nelson, Shelley, Crown Ducal, and Empire, are discussed and many examples of their chintz wares are identified and shown. Over one hundred patterns are amply illustrated, including the popular DuBarry, Rosalynde, and Summertime patterns. Lesser known firms and American importers are also explored, along with the Japanese manufacturers of hand-painted chintz. Manufacturers' marks are identified and dated. A value guide is included with newly updated prices.

This important new book tackles the burgeoning revival of the blacksmith's art. Author Dona Meilach has brought together over 500 works by nearly 200 artist-craftsmen from sixteen countries to illustrate the unprecedented activity in modern ironwork that has led to its blossoming into a serious art form. You'll learn several techniques using hot and cold forming with the results clearly shown. You'll be able to recognize how a fence, railing, grille, table, chair, knife, and other items evolve, and better appreciate their design and workmanship. Each chapter provides background for the type of objects shown — architectural ironwork, sculpture, furniture, containers and vessels, lighting fixtures and candleholders, fireplace accessories, wind vanes, household and liturgical items, and the incredible knives made of Damascus steel. You'll find ample information for how and where to begin your own study in this extensive resource list of organizations, Internet sources, publications, museums, and educational opportunities. The Contemporary Blacksmith** undoubtedly should be found in the libraries of every metalworker, art educator, architect, interior designer, ironwares collector, and crafts person.