Meaning of Furniture

Edward Lucie-Smith was born in 1933 in Kingston, Jamaica. He has finished his educations in England and from then on he has worked as photographer, writer, poet, art critic, historian and curator. He has known as the most prolific writer on the art in England. This article is a translation of the first chapter of his book; Furniture, A Concise History. In this book he takes a panoramic look at furniture history and explains the relations of society and furniture. He describes four approaches to furniture; the first is function, the second is furniture as an indicator of social status, the third is the technological aspects, and the last is the way furniture is used to make a personal and subjective statement to the individual who chooses to live with it.The book published in 1979 and reviewed in 1933, therefore this part of the book does not cover the later topics.