A craft to live with
From the beginning, a chair – and the person who sat in it – was a symbol of social importance. The common people sat on stools; royalty sat on thrones, which, after stripped of its embellishments, jewels, and gold leaf is, in the end, just a wooden chair.

The original furniture makers in America most often took their designs, not surprisingly, from England, although influences from other countries and civilizations would be observed over the years, as gateways were opened to transportation and commerce.

To this day, perhaps the best known of these is the New Yorker, Duncan Phyfe. But the true standout was John Townsend of Newport, Rhode Island. His signature style was typically grand pieces capped by perfectly proportioned block-and-shell fronts and ball-and-claw curved cabriole legs possessed of both delicacy and power.

John Townsend, Chest of Drawers, 1765, Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rogers Fund, 1927 (27.57.I), Photograph © 1984 The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The openness of spindle-backed Windsor chairs gave way to the intricacies of Victorian design, and as different styles took hold around the world, their influences were felt here, particularly east of the Mississippi River. Out west, a native use of ponderosa pine, often crudely hewn and strapped together with hide and sinew, became common in the territories, and was, perhaps, the first truly original American style; it was later adapted on the East as Adirondack camp furniture.

Simultaneously, the Shakers were creating furniture whose simple, unadorned, and functional aesthetic matched their religious teachings, and the style became popular in the East, where their communities primarily resided.

Shaker Side Chair, c. 1850, Courtesy of Shaker Museum and Library

With the beginning of the 20th century, the Arts & Crafts movement migrated from England. So-called Mission-style furniture and accessories, produced by the Gustave Stickley in Syracuse, New York, were exceedingly well-proportioned and well-made, using American hardwoods like cherry, and quarter-sawn white oak with visually unique grains; solid, mortise-and-tenon joinery; and design lines to appeal to the common man.

On a somewhat parallel track, Elbert Hubbard created the Roycroft community as a sort of guild, in East Aurora, near Buffalo, New York. The charismatic Hubbard attracted some of the best and the brightest, and as its leader achieved something of a cult status. Although many were influenced by the phenomenon and its leader, the movement’s success was dealt what would prove a fatal blow when Hubbard and his wife died on the Lusitania in 1915, torpedoed by a German U-boat off the Irish coast.


Wood in today’s world. Today’s artists in wood view their craft not so much as pieces of wood glued or nailed together, but as a gift from nature that should be reflected in their work. The organic designs of Sam Maloof seem to flow in and out of the shapes of the wood itself. And, as noted earlier, the Nakashimas draw from the spirit of the tree itself, and pay homage and respect to its creation when deciding how best to use it. Instead of ornate embellishments of an earlier age, the studio woodworker likely makes his or her statement through the wood itself – incorporating different species for the desired effect.
How you choose to use nature’s gift is, of course, up to you. The good news is that you will likely run out of ideas before running out of possibilities.

Woods surrounding Nakashima Woodworker Studio

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