Winker & Moss (LCA Associates)

Useful Books on Curtains, Draperies, Upholstery and Fabric for the Historic House

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Recommended Core Reference Works

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Author Title Published Notes
Beard, Geoffrey Upholsterers & Interior Furnishings in England, 1530-1840 1997  
Benes, Peter (ed) Textiles in Early New England: Design, Production, and Consumption 1997 published by Boston University
Cooke, Edward S., Jr., ed. Upholstery in America & Europe from the Seventeenth Century to World War I 1987  
Cummings, Abbott Lowell, ed. Bed Hangings: A Treatise on Fabrics and Styles in the Curtaining of Beds, 1650-1850 1961 New edition published in 1994.
Gere, Charlotte Nineteenth-Century Decoration: The Art of the Interior 1989  
Montgomery, Florence M. Printed Textiles: English and American Cottons and Linens, 1700-1850 1970  
Montgomery, Florence M. Textiles in America, 1650-1870 1984  
Moreland, F. A. Practical Decorative Upholstery 1889 / 1979 Reprinted as The Curtain-Maker's Handbook. Edited by Martha Gandy Fales. New York: E. P. Dutton, 1979. Most readily available late 19th-century cutting guide.
Nylander, Jane C. Fabrics for Historic Buildings 1983  
Parry, Linda The Victoria & Albert Museum’s Textile Collection: British Textiles from 1850 to 1900 1993  
Thornton, Peter Authentic Décor, The Domestic Interior 1620-1920 1984 The classic overview by one of the leading authorities.
Trent, Robert The Regulator's Art: Early American Upholstery 1660-1830 1983  
Winkler, Gail Caskey Capricious Fancy: Draping and Curtaining the Historic Interior, 1800-1930 2013  
Winkler, Gail Caskey (ed.) An Analysis of Drapery. A reprint of two rare 19th-century drapery manuals from the Winterthur Library 1993 Best source for how early 19th-century window treatments were assembled.

Other Recommended Works

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Author Title Published Notes
Agius, Pauline, and Stephen Jones, eds. Ackermann's Regency Furniture & Interiors 1984 Reproduces many prints of early 19th-century interiors.
Church, Ella Rodman How to Furnish a Home 1882 Period guide.
Clabburn, Pamela The National Trust Book of Furnishing Textiles 1988  
Cook, Clarence The House Beautiful 1881 Period guide.
Cornforth, John English Interiors, 1790-1848: the Quest for Comfort 1978 Useful, large format views of actual interiors of how early 19th-century interiors were decorated.
Crill, Rosemary Chintz: Indian Textiles for the West 2008  
Dickens, Susan The Art of Tassel Making 1994  
Gibbs, Jenny Curtains and Draperies: History, Design, Inspiration 1994  
Harrison, Constance Cary Woman's Handiwork in Modern Homes 1882 Period guild.
Hefford, Wendy The Victoria & Albert Museum’s Textile Collection: Design for Printed Textiles in England from 1750 to 1850 1992  
Hodgson, Frederick Thomas The Practical Upholsterer 1891 Illustrates the cutting of curtains and drapery patterns.
Jacobs, N. W. Practical Handbook on Cutting Draperies 1890 Similar pattern book to Hodgson listed above.
Jameson, Clare The Potterton Pictorial Treasury of Drapery & Curtain Designs 1987  
Jones, C. S. & Henry T. Williams Beautiful Homes: How to Make Them 1885 Another period guide useful for the last quarter of the 19th-century house.
Kirsch Company Window Treatments Through the Ages 1976  
Lee, Ruth Shades of History 1969 A brief history of window shades.
Loudon, John Claudius An Encyclopedia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture and Furniture 1833 ff. 1833 and subsequent editions. See mention under floors.
McMorris, Penny Crazy Quilts 1984  
Myers, Edgar deN. Mayhew and Minor Myers, Jr. A Documentary History of American Interiors from the Colonial Era to 1915 1980  
Quimby, Ian M. G. (ed) Arts of the Anglo-American Community in the Seventeenth Century 1975 Contains an article by Linda Baumgarten, "The Textile Trade in Boston, 1650-1700."
Rothstein, Natalie The Victoria & Albert Museum's Textile Collection: Woven Textile Design in Britain to 1750 1994  
Rothstein, Natalie The Victoria & Albert Museum’s Textile Collection: Woven Textile Design in Britain from 1750 to 1850 1994  
Seale, William Recreating the Historic House Interior. 2d ed., rev. and enl. 1981  
Spofford, Harriet Prescott Art Decoration Applied to Furniture 1878 A popular guide book from the period.
Stephenson, John W. Cutting and Draping 1913 Another of the rare cutting guides which covers earlier styles of window treatments.
Thornton, Peter Seventeenth-Century Interior Decoration in England, France and Holland 1978  
Varney, Almon C. Our Homes and Their Adornments 1885 Period guide.
Walton, Karin The Golden Age of English Furniture Upholstery, 1660- 1940 1973  
Webster, Thomas, and Mrs. Parkes Encyclopaedia of Domestic Economy 1844 and 1845 Like Loudon’s Encyclopaedia mentioned above, a widely consulted Anglo-American household guide for early Victorian period.
Williams, Henry T., and Mrs. C. S. Jones Beautiful Homes; or, Hints in House Furnishing 1878 Period guide.