I live in an Arts & Craft style bungalow. And my home is furnished with a few pieces of antique Arts and Crafts furniture (to the extent I can afford it). And, I have some knowledge of the history. And all that's cool.

But, I am more interested in the philosophy and in living here and now.

We live in such a consumer, throw away, society with so much specialization and mass production and that few people know how to do something as basic as cook their own meal (except from a package)let alone build a piece of quality furniture.

I want to promote the arts and crafts movement and philosophy as relevant and important today.

Is there not a segment of society that is receptive to furniture (and houses) build with something other than plastic, paper, glue and staples? I understand that the initial movement failed to consistently deliver on the ideal of functional and beautiful objects for the working classes, but could we do better now? Aren't there a lot of people who feel empty and lost in the consumer supermarket that our culture has devolved to and are looking for things that are real - that are built to last?

Is the Arts and Crafts Society just about worshiping dead history? Or a few companies producing artifacts for the wealthy? Why can't the original philosophy of the movement be actively applied to address what ails society today?

I am trying to express a vision or mission for this website. I want to see a website that is vibrant, relevant and alive. Am I just blowing wind? Or am I striking a chord heard by others?

Jim,

I believe our society today mimics much of the status of society during the formative years of the Arts & Crafts Movement.

Folks were seduced by the belief that the Industrial Revolution would solve all social problems and through mechanization. That more was better. More elaborate designs just because we could. More duplication with machinery. More and more of the same. More product meant more profits. Not unlike today.

Today we are plagued with the need to have the most toys and the newest toys at whatever the cost. The bottom line seems to be more important than developing relationships in business. This leaves many wondering what it is all for. The overtime, the traffic, the fast pace, the stress.

Some of us are turning to what we can produce with our own hands as a method of regaining a the reality that what realy matters in life is health, family, & friends. Many of us are driven to find beauty in what we own and make. The process of making by hand and surround ourselves with things that are well made liberates and elevates.

Filling our homes with quality and beauty is still a viable motto. The reverence for things made during the Movement and for those who made them is well placed. I know my debt to those who preceeded me in keeping the craft alive. That is my interest in studying the past.

This forum can educate and maybe even motivate others to think about what is truly important in life.

I find such pleasure in holding a well formed metal bowl or in making one. Eating a bowl of ice-cream with a handwrought spoon is an imeasurable delight.

I will get off my pulpit and leave for the week-end.

Fred

Good Afternoon Friends,
I could not agree with the both of you more and, as some may know that I am trying to do my part as I am building furniture in the A&C style and shipping them all over the United States and all by work of mouth.

I have pictures that I would love to attach but you only can with my system post only one picture at a time on these forums. One thing I would like to add is this book case measures 7'6" W x 7' T x 14" D. I taped the glass for shipment.

Respectfully,

Ralph Jones

Good Morning Friends,
As many will know that it is hard to get these people who buy the junk furniture and within three years you find it setting at the curb awaiting the thrash people to pick it up because they just went out and bought some more of the same material as what they were throwing it away.

When you mention the price of a quality piece of furniture that they can hand down from generation to generation they balk but instead buy the junk furniture that will invariably fall apart in three years or less and out the door they go to buy more of the same junk because it fits their pocket book better.

Respectfully,

Ralph Jones

Ralph,

You forgot about the deals they get on that cheap furniture with store credit cards. The companies have so many fees and keep changing due dates---it is quite a racket. I watched a DVD from Netflicks called "Maxed Out"--it was scary. The sad thing is when people pay off the furniture, they have paid in fees twice what the piece is worth. As Ralph points out, by that time the furniture is worthless and falling apart.

When we first got married, we saved our money and bought expensive Danish Teak furniture. We discovered that it was actually veneered cheap particle board.

The antique mission oak stuff that we bought at the same time (alomst 20 years ago) looks as great as day we took it home. All we ever do is maybe re-glue it once, change the fabric or stuff the cushion better. With the antiques, we buy something once--not every 3 years. If we get something of better quality, we can resell the antique and probably make money. When we put our Danish teak in a Conignment Shop--we lost money on the original investment. But, we got rid of it.

Since we now have a lot of generic Mission furniture, we are collecting replacement pieces with names like Limbert, Stickely, etc. Now, that is rewarding. We sell the old piece and put the money back in the antique fund.

Bev.

I understand what you are saying about short term price decisions.

A big deal in Portland right now: IKEA is opening a store!

IKEA is interesting because they package their particle board junk in an interesting way.

They leave final assembly (with excellent instructions) to the consumer. Which, I think, is cool. A lot of people like that - they feel like they had a part in putting it together themselves. And, it makes shipping and packaging cheaper and easier. And it allows them to keep the list price low and their profit high by passing the most expensive part of production (the labor of final assembly) on to the consumer.

In some (very twisted) ways, this dovetails with the arts and crafts philosophy.

It is furniture for the working classes. And, to a small extent, people are being trained to build their own furniture and they have a certain pride of ownership ("I built this myself - kindof"). Of course, they are building particle board crap.

I am intrigued by the idea of applying this model to producing and distributing quality furniture today in the arts and crafts style. Pre-cut pieces of quality wood, mortice and tenon joints (especially with pegs for joints assembled by the consumer). Maybe fumed (at least as an option) and shilaced before shipment. Consumers get the satisfaction of participating in the assembly an the full confidence of having a quality piece. At a much lower cost.

I understand that this approach was pioneered by Roycroft. But, I don't see why it would not work now. Is there a good reason of which I am ignorant that this is not being done today?

I actually bought a Roycoft replica (The little Journey Stand at www.dardhunter.com/shop/index.php?shop=1&cat=3). It is the closest I have found to what I am talking about. It basically works. I got a good piece of furniture that will last forever for $350. I know it is well built because I looked closely at every piece during assembly. The finish could be better, but the approach seems to work.

If somebody put together a catalog of a couple of dozen pieces like that (replicas or new designs), why couldn't it be popular and successful?

Hello Canright,
I can show you where Stickley and others made KD furniture out of the same materials that we all try to use when making A&C furniture.
I grant you that there are some who can not afford the prices being asked for reproduced furniture in the Stickley, Eastlake, Roycroft style but, I am different as I don't need to make a living at building the pieces so therefore I can make them much cheaper the others and I refuse to cut corners.
I am going to attach a picture of a 1930 circa walking cane show case that I had to reproduce for a client as the termites got to it pretty bad with it being stored in a damp celler.

Respectfully,

Ralph Jones

Hi Ralph,

The showcase is nice. That is curved glass on the top, right? How do you do that? Do you buy it already shaped?

I looked at your website too. I particularly liked your tip on how to cut freehand circles on a tablesaw.

Hello Canwright,
Fortunately I was able to salvage the curved glass from the old door but you can get curved glass from Van Dykes www.vandykes.com.
Though some of the straight glass was broken and I had to replace them. Cutting the curved frame was a bear cat but I was able to get both ends out of one board.

Respectfully,

Ralph Jones

Good Morning Friends,
I thought you might like to see what and how some of the homes in the the Arts and Crafts style would look like, so I am posting a picture that I ran across.

Respectfully,

Ralph Jones

Ralph,

Thanks for the interior image. I particularly like the TECO like vase on the table.

Hello Fred,
I am not sure but I think it looks like it might be a Gruby vase but, I have been wrong before,

Respectfully,

Ralph

The color is right for Grueby. The vase has the architecture of TECO. Most of the Grueby vases I have seen are more organic. I wish I had access to all the books on the period. Pottery is not my strong field of knowledge nor is the furniture.

Hello Fred,
I go to a lot of auction sales and see more furniture of different periods and am amazed on the things I have learned by just watching the various commercial buyers who take the items and resell them in their stores as authentic
Craft furniture. There are pieces that I would not consider to be authentic but the public being uneducated to the actual maker of the piece will get sucked in and buy a piece for a hefty price and the piece is anything but authentic. Most all of the makers of that period placed a mark of some kind on the authentic pieces while the slick sales person can sell a piece that in reality is a forgery or a copy of an original. I also have found that investing in some books which place many pieces of furniture with their value is a wise investment.

Respectfully,

Ralph Jones

Hello Canright,
I just had an idea, how about a section of how the old masters constructed their pieces of furniture such as the drawing I am going to attach to show folks what to look for while shopping for A&C furniture as well as the marks the will be placed in an inconspicuous place.

Respectfully,

Ralph Jones

Good idea, Ralph.

We are thinking along the same lines.

Hi-

Just joined the site,and thought I would try to post a photo of one of my woodworking projects. Wish me luck...

Dave

I like your table. Where did you get your stain?

Dave,

Welcome to the forum and it is wonderful to see your project.

Nice choice of wood and tile. Where did you acquire the tile?

Please feel free to show us more of your work. I might suggest posting in the Furniture section of the forum. Please show us what you have collected. We love images and sharing!

J.O.
The stain is from Constantine. 3 different colors in 3 layers. Trial and error sort of stuff. There is no out of the bottle stain that I have found that will give the look that the antique pieces have. From repairing some Gustave pieces I am sure that they used several different colors in layers as well. I have found runs in joints that suggest red followed by green, followed by walnut.

The tiles are Grueby salvaged from a kitchen in New Jersey. The pic was taken before a coat of black paste wax made them just pop. The grout had not yet dried.

If you ever see any midnight blue Grueby tiles for sale, I would love to get a set...

Dave