Decorative Arts

Benezit dictionary of artists includes entries on artists from antiquity to the present day; contains auction records, museum holdings, and bibliographies. Also includes images of artists’ signatures, monograms, and stamps.

Artisans
Arts and crafts movement
Carving (Decorative arts)
Decoration and ornament
Decorative arts
Decorative arts, Renaissance
Design
Folk art
Furniture
Glassware
Handicraft
Interior decoration
Islamic decorative arts
Jewelry
Pottery
Silverwork
Textile fabrics

Decorative Arts: Glass (University of Illinois - Art & Architecture Library)

Decorative Arts: Ceramics (University of Illinois - Art & Architecture Library)

Decorative Arts: Furniture (University of Illinois - Art & Architecture Library)

Decorative Arts: Textiles (University of Illinois - Art & Architecture Library)

Guide to Research in History of Art & Architecture

American decorative arts and Old World influences: a guide to information sources by David M. Sokol. Detroit, Mich.: Gale Research, 1980, 294 p.

The Oxford companion to the decorative arts. ed. by Harold Osborne. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1975, 865 p.
HOLLIS Record

Grove Art Online is a scholarly art encyclopedia covering all aspects of Western and non-Western visual art.

Grove Encyclopedia of Decorative Arts contains over 3,000 entries covering thousands of years of decorative arts production throughout western and non-western cultures.

Frank, Isabelle. Theory of Decorative Art: An Anthology of European and American Writings, 1750-1940. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press for The Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts, 2000. NK 25 T48 2000 Art Library.

 

Greenhalgh, Paul, editor. Quotations and Sources on Design and the Decorative Arts. New York: Manchester University Press, 1993. PN 6084 D46 Q68 1993 Art Library Reference Collection.

American Textile History Museum Catalog
The American Textile History Museum collects textiles, costumes, decorative arts, tools and machinery, and related library materials. The Chace Catalogue, accesses thousands of images and object descriptions.

AATA Online: Abstracts of International Conservation Literature (1932- ) includes Art and archaeology technical abstracts (1955- ), I.I.C. abstracts (1955-1965), and Abstracts of technical studies in art and archaeology (1943-1952); see HOLLIS Catalog for details on the print sources.


Bibliographies, Catalogs, and Guides

Decorative arts and household furnishings in America, 1650-1920: an annotated bibliography, ed. by Kenneth L. Ames and Gerald W.R. Ward. Winterthur, Del.: Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum; Charlottesville, 1989, 392 p.
Fine Arts | Reading Room | RFA381.2.17
Schlesinger | Harvard Depository | 016.745 A513d 
Widener | Harvard Depository | NK805.Z99 D43 1989x

Applied and decorative arts : a bibliographic guide, by Donald L. Ehresmann. 2nd ed. Englewood, Colo. : Libraries Unlimited, 1993. xxxvii, 629 p.
HOLLIS record

Frank, Isabelle. Theory of Decorative Art: An Anthology of European and American Writings, 1750-1940. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press for The Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts, 2000. NK 25 T48 2000 Art Library.

History of design : decorative arts and material culture, 1400-2000, ed. by Pat Kirkham and Susan Weber. New York : Bard Graduate Center: Decorative Arts, Design History, Material Culture; New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2013, 698 pages 
Fine Arts | FAL-LC | NK600 .H57 2013 013901077

Greenhalgh, Paul, editor. Quotations and Sources on Design and the Decorative Arts. New York: Manchester University Press, 1993. PN 6084 D46 Q68 1993 Art Library Reference Collection.

Early American decorative arts, 1620-1860: a handbook for interpreters by Rosemary Troy Krill with Pauline K. Eversmann. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press, 2001, 299 p.

Material culture: a research guide by Kenneth L. Ames et al., ed. by Thomas J. Schlereth. Lawrence, Kan.: University Press of Kansas, 1985, 224 p.

Winterthur guide to recognizing styles: American decorative arts from the 17th through 19th centuries, by Pauline K. Eversmann. Winterthur, Del.: Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum; 2001, 119 p.

Winterthur Museum Library Catalog
WinterCat includes nearly 80,000 bibliographic records, representing the holdings of the Winterthur Library. Since records for imprints, periodicals, rare printed materials, manuscript and ephemera holdings, photographs, and archival resources have been combined into a single database, researchers can determine the library's holdings on any given topic, person, or organization through one search.

 

 

Antiquespeak: a guide to the styles, techniques, and materials of the decorative arts, from the Renaissance to art deco, Kathryn B. Hiesinger and George H. Marcus. New York: Abbeville Press, 1997, 215 p.
HOLLIS Record

The dictionary of antiques and the decorative arts; a book of reference for glass, furniture, ceramics, silver, periods, styles, technical terms, etc., by Louise Ade Boger and H. Batterson Boger. New York, Scribner, 1967, 662 p.
HOLLIS Record

Encyclopedia of decorative arts, 1890-1940, ed. by Philippe Garner. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1979,320 p.
HOLLIS Record

Materials & techniques in the decorative arts: an illustrated dictionary, ed. by Lucy Trench. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000, 572 p.
HOLLIS Record

The Penguin dictionary of decorative arts, by John Fleming and Hugh Honour. New ed. London: Viking, 1989, 935 p.
HOLLIS Record

Skira dictionary of modern decorative arts, 1851-1942, by Valerio Terraroli. Milano, Italy: Skira, 223 p.
HOLLIS Record

Art Sales Catalogues Online is a bibliographic database with citations for European auction sales catalogs published from 1600-1900. In addition to over 60,000 listings, there are full-text page images for 13,000 catalogs.

Artprice (1950- ) includes data from 2,900 auction houses US and worldwide.

Trade Catalogues (Metropolitan Museum of Art)
A collection of largely decorative arts international manufacturer, wholesale, and retail catalogues (18th century- ).

Source book of antiques and jewelry designs, containing over 3800 engravings of Victorian Americana, including jewelry, silverware, clocks, cutlery, glassware, musical instruments, etc., etc., etc. by Clarence P. Hornung. NY: G. Braziller, 1968, 244 p.

CAMIO (Catalog of Art Museum Images Online)    

Historic New England offers images from its immense collections of museum artifacts, archival documents, books, and periodicals.