Talk:Furniture

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Contents

1 Time for a re-write? 2 hmm... 3 Lighting is furniture? 4 Manufacturers

Time for a re-write?

Reading the comments by Astragal and Rusty2005, below, I wonder if this article would not be a good candidate for a complete rewrite. This article has far greater potential than what it presently is--a definition, a few lists, and a thought-provoking statement (Cromwellian vs. Queen Anne) that needs to be developed. A good article on this topic might include mention of the triclinium of Hellenistic society or the influence of the Shaker's spirituality on their furniture. Also, a few illustrations would be helpful. The online Encyclopædia Britannica devotes 74 "pages" to furniture. This article, like many on Wikipedia, just sort of happened--it started as a stub and grew as examples were added. Perhaps it's time to write a better article. Interested? --Tom Allen 20:24, Jun 2, 2005 (UTC)

hmm...

what do you think about these lines: "Furniture, like architecture is a barometer of social, economic and spiritual change. Compare the austere furniture of the Cromwellian period to the graceful elegance of the Queen Anne period."

Of course much could be said about this, but isn't this a sort-of interpretive observation? Is it weird to give only one example? Particularly since it's an example that I assume is **visually** meaningless to most? --Astragal

Well, I agree, in general, with the idea that furniture reflects the values of a culture. (For example, consider Bauhaus or Shaker furniture.) On the other hand, I think there are probably better ways to illustrate this than with, "Compare the austere furniture of the Cromwellian period to the graceful elegance of the Queen Anne period." The statement assumes that readers would be familiar with both styles and time periods. Personally, without some research I wouldn't have the slightest clue whether a given piece of furniture was Cromwellian! Moreover, the Cromwellian period was relatively short. Anyway, I agree that this statement needs some work. --Tom Allen 20:24, Jun 2, 2005 (UTC)

Lighting is furniture?

AFAIK, Lighting is not furniture. A search at OneLook supports me.

1. From http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/furniture?view=uk : "noun 1 the movable articles that are used to make a room or building suitable for living or working in, such as tables, chairs, or desks. 2 the small accessories or fittings that are required for a particular task or function: door furniture."
2. From http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=31819&dict=CALD : "noun [U] items such as chairs, tables, beds, cupboards, etc. which are put into a house or other building to make it suitable and comfortable for living or working in:"

While "movable articles used to make a room ... suitable for living ... in" might include lighting, the fact that the example list after does not seems suggestive. We should take lighting out of the list. JesseW 11:25, 28 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Lighting is not furniture, it is a form of furnishing. I moved it the furnishings page. --Astragal

Thank you! I don't know why I didn't figure this out. Sigh. It's obvious when you mention it. I'll fix the other references. JesseW 05:18, 11 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Manufacturers

Do we really need a long and under-linked list of American furniture manufacturers? It seems pointless when most of them don't even have their own pages. People outside of the US (and I suppose a lot of people in the US as well) neither know nor care about American furniture companies. How about a little more on furniture types, variations of furniture around the world, furniture in history, constuction and manufacturing techniques, and the socio-economic role of furniture as a status symbol? Rusty2005 14:38, 2 Jun 2005 (UTC)