2016 Award of Distinction Recipient
The Furniture Society proudly bestowed its coveted 2016 Award of Distinction upon Edward Cooke. His award was presented at a luncheon ceremony in June 2016 during the Furniture Society’s conference in Philadelphia.
The scholarly focus of Edward S. Cooke, Jr. (b.1954 in Orange, NJ), who is the Charles F. Montgomery Professor of American Decorative Arts in the Department of the History of Art at Yale University, New Haven, CT, is American material culture and decorative arts. His work on modern craft includes his role as founding co-editor of The Journal of Modern Craft as well as his role as co-curator and co-author of six seminal exhibitions and accompanying catalogues on contemporary furniture: New American Furniture (Museum of Fine Arts, 1989); Inspiring Reform: Boston’s Arts and Crafts Movement (Davis Museum, Wellesley College, 1997); Wood Turning in North America Since 1930 (Yale University Art Gallery, 2001); The Maker’s Hand: American Studio Furniture, 1940 – 1990 (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 2003); and Inspired by China: Contemporary Furnituremakers Explore Chinese Traditions (Peabody Essex Museum, 2006). He also contributed to Furniture by Wendell Castle, with Joseph Giovannini and Davira Taragin (Founder’s Society of the Detroit Institute of Arts, 1989).
In addition to his abundant publication record and breadth of scholarly investigation, Professor Cooke served as a two-term trustee of the Furniture Society during its early, formative years, and has spoken at many Furniture Society conferences since their inception.