November 5, 2013

Bienenstock Furniture Library

On my way out of High Point, I stopped for a tour of the Bienenstock Furniure Library, one of High Point’s year-round treasures. BienenstockThe library was founded by the owner of Furniture World magazine in 1970 as a personal collection of books. The collection includes contemporary books as well as some of the classics, including an original copy of Thomas Chippendale’s furniture design book.

I was lucky to get a personal tour of the library and its collections from Director, Karla Webb who loves books as much as I do! One of the fun collections at Bienenstock is the old copies of House Beautiful, House & Garden and many auction catalogues.

We had a chance to check out some of their rare books,

I loved seeing Chippendale’s original drawings for furniture, some of which was actually built, and some of which was designed on spec.

I love this table – it is as contemporary as anything else I saw at High Point!

One of my favourite books was one with small swatches of old fabrics, which looked as bright and fresh today as the day they were woven!

My visit to the Bienenstock was a great way to end a terrific trip to High Point, and I would recommend a visit if you’re close!

4 comments:

  1. My goodness, that fabric swatch book one of few no doubt. Perhaps, we as stewards of all things beautiful should document the fabrics in one's personal collection for posterity. I mean what a handy thing 100 years in the future , some one long ago took the time to clip a fragment , describe it in some detail etc. Just think many of those fabrics were perhaps woven in this country and now in the 21st century are there any fabric mills in the USA? I am a sucker for vintage textiles but vintage fibers are just that gentle handling-- but enjoy them while they last. Cheers!

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  2. This is right up my street! Worth a trip to NC!

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  3. If Anon 23:41 noticed the book is printed in German. Well, those mills no doubt don't exist any more -- I wonder if any survived WWII.

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  4. love books, any kind! + great post so glad you got to see this. xxpeggybraswelldesign.com

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