Liberty of London, Masters of Style and Decoration

For more than one hundred years the name Liberty of London has been synonymous with the highest achievements in the decorative arts - from fabric to furniture, from carpets to ceramics. This full account of Liberty's accomplishments in the applied arts is therefore also a central history of design over the past century. Organized chronologically and profusely illustrated, it begins with Arthur Liberty's early emporium, selling oriental textiles and imported furnishings, then covers the Aesthetic movement, Arts and Crafts, Art Nouveau, the decorative twenties and thirties, and the revivalism of the fifties and sixties. It ends with a survey of Liberty's exploration of international modern design.