sutton046

While in Europe and the UK recently, I enjoyed looking at lots of old furniture in galleries and museums. Oooo, it was so nice. This furniture ranged from the completely over-the-top Rococo style stuff in Napoleon III's apartments at the Louvre in Paris, through to simple home made rural pieces from the 12-14th century. Just a  touch of gilding on the joinery and furniture... Napoleon III Apartments, the Louvre, Paris. There were all the big names in English cabinetmaking, like Sheraton, Hepplewhite, Chippendale, and Morris - through to the long forgotten and nameless people ranging from very early DIY to incredibly skilled craftsmen who created outstanding furniture and joinery for Royalty, Lords and aristocrats, as seen preserved in various castles and stately homes. What a feast for the eyes!! What food for the soul!! Awesome carving in panels of partitioning, Edinburgh Castle. While I am greatly impressed by the very intricate and clever high quali...

Well known US woodworking identity Christopher Schwarz has recently been researching the Campaign Chair. Reading his recent blog post brought back warm memories of my own experiences with this interesting chair. Way back in 1988, a customer approached me with a chair he said had been in his family for about a hundred years. He wanted another to match. It was a campaign chair, made of 10 wooden components: 4 legs, 4 rails, and 2 pivoting backrest supports. A slung canvas seat, leather straps with buckles and a couple of bolts with wing nuts completed the chair. This clever chair works on tapered mortise and tenon joints giving it amazing flexibility, and the ability to sit with four feet on the ground on any terrain. Perfect for the Empire's military officers as they expanded and enforced the Empire across the globe. Campaign Furniture was created to enable these travellers to take the comforts of their English homes with them. It was portable furniture, which could be folded or br...