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During one visit to an art school, I saw a lot of things. But it was the French fry boxes that made my head hurt.
Scattered throughout the school were student works that clearly were furniture (i.e. you could sit upon them). Others clearly were art (they were just for looking at). But there were some pieces of work that defied categorization. In fact, at some point I started asking myself: “Hmmm. Is that thing art or garbage?”
Out by the loading dock was a weathered plank of wood propped up against the wall. It had some pieces of wood rudely attached to its backside. Was this a low bench? An art installation? Or a piece of trash waiting to be taken to the curb?
Out by the school’s fountain was a pile of grease-stained White Castle French fry containers.
“Ah,” I said. “Clearly this is garbage.”
But once I got closer I saw the containers were attached. Was this a White Castle wind sock?
I find that pieces of so-called “studio furniture” can be a challenge to appreciate and enjoy. They challenge our perceptions of form, material and function. Truth be told, I quite like the stuff on the whole. I have several books from The Furniture Society on studio furniture and its makers that I always enjoy reading and browsing through.
But it would be foolish to think that studio furniture is a modern invention.
Though you might disagree with me, I think a piece of studio furniture has the following components. It is a piece of furniture that is both designed and built by an individual. And that person is trying to create a new style of furniture that stands apart from other historical forms.
James Krenov was likely the most famous of these makers. Art Carpenter, George Nakashima and Sam Maloof were all what I would call “studio makers.”
And if you look at the history of furniture, you’ll find studio furniture makers there such as Charles Rohlfs. Check out the quote from him on this page. How about William Morris? Nope. He wasn’t a builder. Thomas Chippendale? I think yes. Thomas Sheraton or George Hepplewhite? Again, I think yes.
That got us to thinking: Who in history would be the earliest known studio furniture maker? We need a name (not just “caveman”) and they have to be a known designer and builder.
– Christopher Schwarz
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Just what are you trying to imply about White Castle, sir?
I certainly think Noah counts.
There must have been furniture inside!
I’d love to know how he built that arc without a crane and some big power tools.
Don "Dances with Wood" Butler
I have to put Gringling Gibbons the master carver in for a nomination. He had a certain amount of independance and works were commissioned for his skill and fame. The design is out side of just suporting an architectural style and works in themselves.
Mark
There is a very thorough photographic and written history of 20 years of studio furniture that passed through the doors of Pritam & Eamses on their website:
http://www.pritameames.com/archives.html
It’s split into 2 decades, and the Intro of the 1st Decades lays out nicely a bit of history of their studio. The Intro of the 2nd decade puts forth even a stronger treatise on what studio furniture is, when it was "born" and what it was born of.
I have no nominees for "earliest." I just want to comment on the idea of "original work." When I was in the midst of 14 years of saxophone lessons and performing, something my last teacher said to me (when we were studying jazz improvization) has always stuck: while practicing is essential, so is listening – that is, listening to other (renowned as well as peer) soloists perform. It can inspire one’s own creativity.
That’s how I felt when I first looked through the furniture shown on P&E’s site above. I can’t remember how many times I said "wow." I’ve only been at this craft-as-hobby for 5 years, so there’s still alot I haven’t "seen." But it is certainly inspirational to me.
-Chris
In a sense, most folk furniture – made by someone who may not have been a furniture maker as a profession, but was handy and competent none the less – might come close to early studio. Look at some of the antique chairs in John Brown’s book. I suppose they all follow a form of rustic windsor roughly, but they are certainly unique – making use of the wood, tools, and skills to hand in such a way as to create a pleasing aesthetic that is practically unique to each example.
Interesting quote by Rohlfs. Totally wrong, of course, but interesting. Rohlfs work shows a very strong derivatization of african tribal art in both proportion and ornamentation, and that genre was very well published at the time that Rohlfs was designing his work.
Not that I wouldn’t mind finding one of his pieces at a flea market – one of his chairs is worth well in excess of $50k.
My guess is that it will not be possible to point to any individual that truly meets your criteria, because regardless of what the craftsman may have thought or intended, we are all products of the age and culture that created us, and it is simply not possible to come up with some that’s totally new and different – such pieces will always have some aspects of derivatization.
Hey Chris……..depends on what country you are in. Being that furniture history shows the US is always late to the party, I have to say its Sidney Barnsley of the UK early 1900’s.
Studio furniture is a relatively new definition, I’m not so sure the "Great Designer" had visions of Noah in the studio. And Chippendale for that matter was the precursor to lets say Kittenger Furniture Company.
Nobody really set out to be a "studio furniture maker" back in the day, its a recent conscious thought to bring craft out of the blacksmith, glass-blower, "decorative art" candlestick maker and into the "fine arts". Not an easy task when an acknowledged Art Critic imposes subjectivity.
As for Rohlfs…..seems he’s a bit full of himself, its an obvious correlation between the chair of Mackintosh -Greene and Green – and Rohlfs, maybe he didn’t count stage sets as observations.
Chris,
Artisans largely toiled anonymously in the guild system until the development of printing and specifically engraving provided an opportunity to market designs. The first to embrace this new technology and gain some notoriety was a German artist in Nuremburg in the second quarter of the 16th century named Peter Flotner. The first Brit to publish furniture designs was William Webb a student of the above mentioned Inigo Jones who was an architect and not a furniture designer. These were published in 1665.
There are two craftsmen from antiquity singled out in the book of Exodus 31: 1-5(circa 1400 BC) named Bezalal, son of Uri, and Oholiab, son of Ahisamach who are identified as skilled in metalwork, able to cut and set gemstones and woodcarving. They are charged with constructing all the furniture for the Hebrew tabernacle following the specific instructions laid down starting in chapter 25.
George
“My designs are my own. I evolve them. They are like those of no other period nor people…I do not read Ruskin nor anybody nor anything that might influence my ideas. I never get them from books…They are mine and into their execution I put all my heart and force and that is why they appeal.”
Well, OK I guess, if he says so.
My vote is for Bubbahotep.
This might be a stretch, but I would suggest Imhotep, Chancellor to the Pharaoh Djoser in about 2650B.C. Credited with designing the Stepped Pyramid of Djoser; the forerunner of all the following Egyptian pyramids. Among his titles, as listed by Wikipedia, are:
Chancellor of the King of Egypt, Doctor, First in line after the King of Upper Egypt, Administrator of the Great Palace, Hereditary nobleman, High Priest of Heliopolis, Builder, Chief Carpenter, Chief Sculptor and Maker of Vases in Chief.
Maybe he didn’t build furniture, per se, but he surely had a lot of influence on design.
What about Inigo Jones? He crafted from the late 1500’s to the early 1600’s.