Art and Mystery of Tennessee Furniture

Nathan Harsh & C. Tracey Parks Williams. THE ART AND MYSTERY OF TENNESSEE FURNITURE THROUGH 1850. Tennessee Historical Society, 1988.

Current Selling Prices
$550-$800 /£280-£400 ISBN 0961596627

COLLECTABLES
Collectors and dealers book for the venerable Tennessee antiquer. Probably essential if you are dealing in it. 345 pages, copiously illustrated in colour and black and white throughout. The Amazon person has it thus :-

This pioneering study has been meticulously assembled through extensive fieldwork throughout Tennessee. Lifestyles of Tennesseans prior to 1850 ranged from mountain cabins to plantation mansions and the furnishings were designed to accommodate either setting. Here is a variety of desks, bookcases, and secretaries; sideboards, presses, cupboards, dressers, wardrobes, bureaus and bedsteads; sugar chests and cellarets; candlestands and shaving stands and washstands; cradles, bed steps, chairs, benches, sofas, and tables in dozens of sizes, uses, and names. Featuring many pieces from private collections never before documented, "The Art and Mystery of Tennessee Furniture" chronicles the originality of design and decoration, the choices of woods, and the simplicity and sophistication that signifies "made in Tennessee." The authors consider sources of labor, location of shops, volume of production, and marketing techniques. Just as important, the authors have conducted exhaustive research into the identities of Tennessee artisans and the furniture industry, and the book includes a checklist of 1,400 furniture makers working in Tennessee prior to 1850. This will be the definitive study for years to come.

Could find no pics of the book or even a definitive piece of Tennessee furniture so, because I must have a pic, have got Linda Thompson (song writer, former Miss Tennessee, former "Hee Haw" gal, but best known as Elvis' LAST girlfriend) up there. Not entirley sure what a "Hee Haw" girl is or does. I guess dating Elvis is the American equivalent of dating Prince Charles... [ W/Q *** ]

VALUE? Originally sold at the Tennessee State Museum, another ed came out in the same year from University Publishing Association. Google reveals a Tennessee dealer saying it is essential in the field and worth $700 and for a while there were no copies available; at present 2 on Amazon at $600 and $1200 (money goes to a charity) ABE has an egregious relister with one at $2000 . $600 to $700 should be enough, every time a dealer dies or goes bust one will pop up.