The sheer complexity of the subject of European furniture, ranging through an enormous variety of

Despite the upheavals of the first decades of the nineteenth century, Paris soon recovered its position as a leading centre for furniture and design in Europe, a position that was to grow and strengthen as the century progressed. Encouraged by royal and imperial regimes, exhibited at the great international fairs, and collected by international aristocrats, bankers and newly wealthy industrialists, Paris furniture by the second half of the century had once again become synonymous with luxury and exquisite craftsmanship. Furniture makers drew their inspiration from a vast array of historical periods and cultural sources to create new and exciting designs that both appealed to the eclectic tastes of the nineteenth-century amateur and yet suited the demands for comfort and convenience of the luxury consumer. Building on the generations of skills and techniques that had characterised French furniture during the years of the Ancien Regime, contemporary makers exploited technological advances and new materials to produce some of the most creative and inventive pieces ever made, often surpassing the quality achieved by previous generations. AUTHOR: Christopher Payne's 45-year career in the Decorative Arts spans both the commercial and the academic worlds coupled with a deep knowledge and understanding of the practical side of furniture making and conservation. After reading law, Christopher started his career at Sotheby's where he stayed for 25 years, becoming a Senior Auctioneer and a Director of the Furniture Department with responsibilities for furniture, works of art, clocks and sculpture. At Sotheby's Christopher was working at the very centre of the art world, advising international collectors on both buying and selling, building up collections, giving restoration advice and insurance valuations as well as teaching post-graduate students at the Sotheby's Institute. Private clients have enjoyed his lectures at the Buccleuch Studies and tours of many of Great Britain's country houses. He personally helped the late Earl of Carnarvon furnish part of Highclere Castle, the location for the highly acclaimed ITV television series Downton Abbey and has been a member of the BBC's Antiques Roadshow team for over thirty years. He continues his work as an independent consultant advising top-level private clients and lecturing both in the United Kingdom and internationally, including China. 1250 colour, 250 b/w images

- British Furniture 1820 to 1920 - The Luxury Market is the major work in its field, a stunning achievement and a landmark publication - The first book to properly assess the work of British Furniture makers through the 19th century, among them great names such as Gillows, Maples, Hollands and Morris & Co - In over 600 pages, all lavishly illustrated, the author creates the new and definitive work on this subject - Christopher Payne, a former director of Sotheby's, is an independent furniture historian and well-known author who has appeared on the BBC Antiques Roadshow - for over 30 years British Furniture 1820 to 1920 is the first book on the subject for several decades and the only book ever published to span the century from 1820 through to 1920. It creates a continuum to underline the importance of the late Recency style favoured by George IV, moving through to the first two decades of the 20th century, with a host of ever-changing styles and fashions. Payne illustrates the importance of the revival styles and copies: a fundamental part of the furniture trade that has often previously been ignored. Many of the makers' names are familiar to furniture collectors, such as Gillows, Hollands, Collinson & Lock, Morris & Co. and Maples. However, the importance of others, such as Baldock, Blake, Trollope, Hindley & Wilkinson, Hamptons or Lenygon & Morant - as well as a host of provincial makers - is explained. British Furniture 1820 to 1920 - The Luxury Market is a landmark publication and arguably the first book to properly assess British furniture design through the whole of the Victorian era. It goes further than any book has attempted before by filling in important research particular for the latter half of the century. It shows that what is often termed simply, and once pejoratively, as 'Victorian' is often of an earlier date, commencing in the revered Regency period of the 1820s. Christopher Payne considers each decade, adding important new research and building a huge archive of text and images. The book contains in excess of 1000 color photographs and also an important compendium of makers names and details.