The BIFMO project was initially conceived and developed in partnership with the University of London’s Institute of Historical Research (IHR). Now in its seventh year, the project is solely managed by the FHS, and the website developed and hosted by a company supporting innovative ways of publishing information digitally. The URL address has also changed, thus indicating the BIFMO website is exclusively owned by the Furniture History Society: https://bifmo.furniturehistorysociety.org.

The Dictionary of English Furniture Makers 1660-1840, edited by Geoffrey Beard and Christopher Gilbert, serves as the foundation and inspiration for the BIFMO database which currently contains nearly 87,000 records across six sources. This includes updated biographies from the Dictionary, plus the details of thousands of previously undocumented historical furniture-making craftspeople and firms in the industry.  The sources include:

1. The Dictionary of British and Irish Furniture Makers, 1500-1914
2. A Dictionary of Edinburgh Wrights and Furniture Makers, 1660-1840
3. A Dictionary of Norfolk Furniture Makers, 1700-1840
4. The Bernard and Geraldine Cotton Archive, 1700-1900
5. London Joiners’ Company records, 1640-1820
6. London Upholders’ Company records, 1704-1772

The result is our globally-free research tool.  With a wealth of information and entries, it acts as an authoritative one-stop site for all researchers in the field of furniture history, interiors and furnishings of British and Irish town and country houses, and as a source for research into furniture and associated trades, manufacturers and suppliers; their organising structures, clientele; their production and the services they provided.

In addition to BIFMO providing scholars, academics, students, collectors, and the antique trade with a variety of comprehensive information, it also enables new research to be published in biographies and blogs. Thanks to generous personal contributions and grants, an active research programme for emerging scholars has been added to the BIFMO project. One of our research initiatives has been the collaboration with the IHR’s Layers of London project https://www.layersoflondon.org/ where approximately 16,000 London furniture makers, c.1600-1880, are mapped.  

BIFMO is an associated partner with The US Consortium of Decorative Arts databases (CODA).

British and Irish Furniture Makers Online is the Furniture History Society's research tool for the 21st century. 

A cabinet-maker's office, c.1770 © Victoria & Albert Museum