Antique Garden Ornament: Two Centuries of American Taste

Antique Garden Ornament: Two Centuries of American Taste

Antique Garden Ornament: Two Centuries of American Taste is a detailed history of garden ornament in America between 1740 and 1940, illustrated with extraordinary original color images by the esteemed garden photographer, Mick Hales.  All the ornaments depicted are the finest examples from existing private or once-private American historic gardens, including some estate gardens that have never been published.  Intended primarily as a reference volume for the general reader, Antique Garden Ornament introduces European precedents of ornament use in relation to garden design, then focuses on American interpretations of garden ornament in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries.  With new revelations about the dating and attribution of pieces, and new information concerning collections at historic American houses, this book is a truly innovative and comprehensive resource.

The book is arranged in chapters devoted to seven major categories of ornament–Fountains, Statues, Urns, Furniture, Sundials, Gates and Fencing–and a general chapter that discusses other traditional garden material, e.g., wellheads, obelisks and plant stands, with a catalog of ornaments for each chapter at the back of the book.  The catalog of ornaments, illustrated with black-and-white photographs, intentionally includes items that represent the most diverse range of traditional ornament, but also presents a fairly comprehensive selection of objects currently available on the antiques market.  Also invaluable to the collector and scholar alike are the appendices; the first lists the histories of 140 foreign and domestic garden ornament manufacturers including their various marks, the second covers the identification, maintenance, and security of garden ornament.