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KIRKHAMFurniture-Making1982.pdf

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ABSTRACT<br />

This thesis is a study of furniture-making in London in the<br />

years between about 1700 and 1870. The aims of the thesis are outlined<br />

in the introduction, which also explains why the years 1700-1870 were<br />

chosen. The special character of furniture-making in London, particularly<br />

its geographical location and the division between the and<br />

'dishonourable' sectors of the trade, is discussed in the introduction.<br />

In Section A, the first two chapters cover the various crafts involved in<br />

furniture-making, the demarcations between them and the division of labour<br />

within them while Chapter 3 examines the craft training and the decline of<br />

the apprenticeship system. Section 0 deals with business organisation.<br />

Chapter 4 considers the ways in which the various crafts were brought<br />

together in firms and Chapter 5 examines the numbers employed and stock<br />

held therein. Section C analyses the split between craft, design and<br />

management. Chapter 6 concentrates on the entrepreneur furniture-maker<br />

and the development of his managerial role while Chapter 7 discusses the<br />

emergence of the professional designer. The involvement of furniture-<br />

makers in developments associated with the 'industrial revolution' is<br />

discussed in Section D. Chapters 8 and 9 consider the effect of new<br />

materials and techniques, including machinery, on furniture-making while<br />

Chapter 10 considers the involvement o? furniture-makers in patents relating<br />

to furniture-making. The final section, E, examines the ways in which the<br />

London companies, in particular the Joiners' and the Upho1des Companies,<br />

and the journeymen's trade societies attempted to protect both the<br />

furniture-making trade and those who worked in it.<br />

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