Description
By 1820 there was a growing profession of brokers and dealers in London, and a century later antique shops were commonplace throughout England. This fascinating book documents the break-up, sale, and re-use of salvages in Britain and America, where the fashion for so-called “Period Rooms” became a mainstay of the transatlantic trade. Much appreciated by museum visitors, period rooms have become something of a scholarly embarrassment, as research reveals that many were assembled from a variety of sources. One American embraced the trade as no other–the larger-than-life William Randolph Hearst–who purchased tens of thousands of architectural salvages between 1900 and 1935. Hardcover. Published by Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art 2007