Liberty Style

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Liberty & Co. of London employed a team of artists to create designs, distinguished by simplicity and functionality, which came to be known as the Liberty Style. This book's abundant illustrations depict not only the familiar fabrics and wallpaper, but also silver, copper and pewterware, furniture, jewelry, pottery and glassware. Unfortunately, most of the pictures are in black-and-white, minimizing their effect, the prose is dense and wordy and the scanty explanations of the various artistic movements of the period won't suffice for lay readers. Nonetheless, this celebration of the Liberty Style movementespecially the directories of Liberty artists, designers and manufacturers, and a crash course in identifying Liberty marks and numbersmay be a valuable resource for collectors. Levy is the author of The Artist and the Nude, etc. (July 18)