Collinson & Lock

Victorian furnishers and decorators Collinson and Lock where a model of the art furniture business of the last quarter of the century. This book is the first wide-ranging study of this once highly important company. Clive Edwards is Emeritus Professor of Design History at Loughborough University. He has studied the history of nineteenth and twentieth century furniture and interiors. His works include monographs, and contributions to edited works and journals on many aspects of furniture history, and home furnishings. Clive says, “Having had a fascination with furniture and antiques all my life (I worked in the business for some years before entering academia) I have always enjoyed studying the subject. In my research I found that there was little written about Art furniture and even less about Collinson & Lock, one of the most important businesses in that field. I wrote this book as reference tool for historians of furniture and interior design, museum curators, antique dealers, auction houses, antique collectors, and those interested in the decorative arts of the period.” Victorian furnishers and decorators Collinson & Lock were a model of the art furniture business of the last quarter of the nineteenth century. This book is the first wide-ranging study of this once highly important company. It will give insights into the workings and productions of a London furnishing business in the period. It also provides information on a wide variety of topics including furniture design developments, interior design styles, business practices, working practices and techniques, and the firm’s customers and competitors. Clive Edwards first considers the structure of the London ‘art furniture’ trade and its development to locate the firm in its community. He then traces the growth of the firm’s business, its involvement with important international exhibitions, the designers they worked with, and the furniture and interiors they produced. This important book then outlines and discusses Collinson & Lock’s creations ranging from seminal pieces that were designed for an exclusive clientele, to those displayed at national and international exhibitions between 1871 and 1900, through to batch produced objects that still maintained the quality and design that the firm was famous for. The involvement of the firm with both public and private interior decoration commissions is also examined through case studies, including those in the Anglo-Japanese, Queen Anne, Old English, and Renaissance styles used in the later Victorian period. Drawing on the author's extensive knowledge of nineteenth-century furniture and interiors, this book meets a need for a fully researched and illustrated reference work on this famous firm. If you have an interest in the history of furniture and interior design, if you are involved with furniture collections either on a private basis or professionally, or you simply have an interest in the decorative arts and culture of the period, this book should be on your shelves.