Editorial scope

This publication files short visual studies about painted cottage furniture: how flat colour behaves on a case piece, what a finish is made of, where a painted surface wears, how loose covers sit against a painted frame, and how woven and cased forms are proportioned.

How the plates are numbered

Every study and every feature carries a plate number, running from Plate 01. The number is the publication's own filing order and nothing else; it is not a date and it is not an edition. Plates are drawn here as flat vector diagrams rather than photographed, so that a drawing can show a section, a wear zone or a joint that a photograph would hide.

Disciplines

Studies are filed under four headings. Colour covers the choosing and grouping of painted colour. Finish covers what a painted surface is made of and how it behaves in use. Form covers the shape and proportion of pieces. Textiles covers the soft material that sits against a painted frame.

Scope

The subject here is the furniture and the finish, not the market for either. Nothing on this site recommends a supplier, values a piece or describes work done by anyone in particular. Where a study gives practical guidance it describes general practice that can be checked against the piece in front of you.