Feature Articles Annotated Bibliography Book Reviews What's Hot Submission Form		Reviews on Books about Arts & Crafts Arts & Crafts|Architecture|Books|Cookie Jars|Decorative Arts|European Glass, Pottery, Ceramics|FolkArt|General Antiques|Pattern Glass|Pottery Grand Rapids Art Metalwork, 1902-1918 Don Marek Grand Rapids, MI: Heartwood, 1999. Reviewed by Scott H. Suter Arts and Crafts enthusiasts will definitely want to add this title to their shelves. Although the book is now out-of-print, it can still be found at various booksellers for a reasonable price considering the large number of quality illustrations (118 total) and the new information revealed on its pages. Collector Don Marek has tackled the task of exploring the metalwork of a city known primarily for its large furniture industry, demonstrating that, while this ancillary art developed from the need for such work on furniture, it eventually took on an importance of its own. Marek focuses on the most well-known of the metal crafters, Forest Emerson Mann and the Grand Rapids Arts and Crafts Society, but he also digs deep to discover contributions from Russian and Syrian immigrants. Similarly, he touches on the work of well-known manufacturers such as the Stickley Brothers and Limbert, again, exploring the role that the smaller firms such as Mann's Forest Craft Guild played in providing items for these larger companies. Much of Marek's information comes from his diligent research into primary materials such as company catalogues, contemporary reviews, city directories and census data. Since many of the area's pieces were not signed, he identifies craftsmen and women by their style, attributing works to various shops and craftspeople based on grade of metal, shape, and design. (Attempts to locate family members of former metalworkers who might be able to answer questions regarding artists' inspiration appear to have been only marginally successful.) Along with photos of examples, Marek has published catalog excerpts to further illustrate his points. This book is the first to look at this often overlooked corner of the Arts and Crafts world. A city that was home to numerous metalworkers who anonymously supplied the larger companies such as Limbert with their metal objects, should now be recognized as another source for arts and crafts collectors. Referring to the metalworkers of Grand Rapids, Marek asserts that they "created a body of work made cooperatively with a sense of spirit and humor that never fails to delight the eye and intrique the senses." A glance through this book leave little room for argument against that assertion. Arts & Crafts|Architecture|Books|Cookie Jars|Decorative Arts|European Glass, Pottery, Ceramics|FolkArt|General Antiques|Pattern Glass|Pottery