Designer’s Alphabet, M is for…………

Louis Majorelle (1859 – 1926) a French furniture designer and manufacturer, and leading figure in the Art Nouveau style. Classically trained at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. His designs feature an organic theme often incorporating flowing plants and flowers sculpted in wood and metal, along with naturalistic themed marquetry designs that included metals and semi-precious stones. Majorelle’s factory was devastated by fire and then looted by the German army in WWI, bringing his work to a tragic end. Here’s a link to the DIA (Detroit Institute of Art) with a closer look at this cabinet.

George R. Walker

Designers Alphabet, J is for …..

is for Inigo Jones, b 1573, d 1652 – England’s first prominent architect. Jones had far reaching impact on furniture design by the fact that the ideas he unleashed impacted Briton and everything she touched for over 150 years. Before taking the role of Surveyor General of the King’s Works for James I, he studied in Italy and became an admirer of the work of Andrea Palladio. He introduced Palladianism to the British Isles where the English embraced this new contemporary form of classicism with a greater fervor than the Italians. A true classicist, Palladio paid homage to the past; his designs emphasized symmetry, proportions, and a reverence for the classic orders. Yet with an eye towards the future he designed country villas that broke free from the medieval fortress mentality; designing large country estates that celebrated the surrounding landscape.

Villa Godi designed by Andrea Palladio

The Queens House designed by Inigo Jones

On the rising tide of the British Empire this design approach spread across the globe. Although we don’t have a furniture style designated Palladian, it underpins all furniture known as Georgian, William & Mary, Queen Anne, Chippendale, and Federal. Basically everything produced during the golden age of the cabinatemaker circa 1680 – 1820 had its roots in this classical approach.

Flat top highboy, Photo by author.

George R. Walker

Designer’s Alphabet, I is for……………..

is for Paul Iribe (1883 – 1935), a multifaceted and prolific illustrator and designer in the decorative arts. His furniture designs spanned the end of the Art Nouveau and the beginning of the Art Deco movements. This chest above reflects the Art Deco but to my eye something else. Iribe as an illustrator leaned more towards the language of graphic arts. The birth of a trend that still persists today in much contemporary furniture. This is not a judgement on my part just an observation. The carving detail on the upholstered chair below formed a stylized version of a classical volute (actually a spiral and not technically a volute). It’s sort of a metaphor of a metaphor as a classical volute is a stylized depiction of a fiddlehead fern or a nautilus shell. Yet aside from that it’s a bold graphic element, again reflecting his background as an illustrator. He frequently included a rose blossom motif. Note rose blossom capitals that terminate the legs on the small table. What stands out when you look at his work?

George R. Walker

Christie’s Paris 2010

Sotheby’s Paris 2010

Designer’s Alphabet – H is for…….

is for Herm or terminus, named after the columns that marked the boundaries between territories in the ancient world. In antiquity, stone markers were often topped with a bust of the pagan god hermes, who among other things was a guardian of boundaries. These columns were reverse tapered – small at the base and widening as they rose up to a bust of a human form. In antiquity this reverse tapered colunm found use as a furniture support, ie table and chair legs. During the renaissance, designers exploring what became known as the mannerist style revived the form in chair and table designs with elaborate human or animal figures terminating the form. Later these reverse tapered columns shed the dramatic human figures but still retained the original shape.

This tapered leg form is inspired by the ancient herm.

Some of the historical texts refer to this type of tapered leg as a term or a herm. Unlike an architectural column the taper is often more dramatic. An architectural column typically tapers inward, one sixth of its diameter towards the top. A herm in a furniture design typically is reduced by one-third to one half its diameter at the floor.

Designer’s Alphabet, G is for………..

Guilloche, (pronounced gil- LOSH) an ornamental carved band consisting of two or more ribbons or ropes flowing in interlaced curves. They show up in an infinite variety of patterns, many based on an intertwined knot. The examples here are from Swan’s circa 1757 Georgian Stylebook where he refers to them as “Galoss”. Perhaps someone with a good 18^th century dictionary can help explain Swan’s term for a Guilloche. The form appears far back into pre-history in ancient Nineveh as well as Celtic examples. Here’s a link to an example Peter Follansbee carved in oak on a small box.

Decorative guilloche patterns show up in carved wood and stone, mosaics, tapestries, architecture, furniture, and paintings. If you have any photos to share please send them to georgewalker.design@gmail.com and I’ll add them to this post.

Designers Alphabet E is for ……….

is for Charles Eastlake (1836 -1906), a major figure in late 19th century design in Britain and America through his iconic book “Hints on Household Taste”. Eastlake took up the banner of William Morris who helped spawn the Arts and Craft movement. He trumpeted furniture designs with simple flat carving, often in oak or walnut, unpolished with natural grain and solid joinery. Many of his designs were rectilinear in form and inspired by medieval and Jacobean furniture. In true Victorian style furniture manufacturers of the day took Eastlake’s designs and slathered on the gee gaw, obscuring much of his original intent. In an interesting bit of timing, the latest release of the Work Magazine  project from the folks at Tools for Working Wood features an article which takes Eastlake to the woodshed over his advise about the use of veneer. I include this in honor of Chris Schwarz who like Eastlake, is fearless about putting his ideas out and occasionally gets a butt shot full of arrows.

If you have any pictures of Eastlake furniture or details, send them  to me at georgewalker.design@gmail.com  to add to this profile of an important figure in furniture design.

Also worth noting, his uncle Sir Charles Lock Eastlake was an interesting figure in art history and the first director of the British National Gallery. Here’s a link to a short video clip highlighting his influence on that cultural institution National Gallery .

Chris Bame had this to contribute:

Hi George,
Though not my favorite period. That would be Regency, I’ve always liked Eastlake furniture.
Here’s a quick pic of a Eastlake chair I picked up in N.Y. years ago. Found it unfinished hanging from the rafters in a little general store in Owego. $10.00 bought it. Knocked it apart and put it in my suite case for the flight back to Dallas. yep that was pre 9/11. I just love the pateraes and turnings.

Designer’s Alphabet D is for ……

is for dividers, aptly called the tool of the imagination. At it’s simplest it’s a pair of sticks joined at a fulcrum, but this simple tool is one of the most profound of human inventions. Dividers give us the ability to manipulate two imaginary points in space with microscopic precision. They lie at the foundation of everything we know about the natural world. Our curious ancestors used dividers to unlock the proportions in the human form and track the stars and planets as they marched across the night sky.

Proportional study by Albrecht Durer

This ability to plot imaginary points means they have capabilities far beyond mere observation (as if that wasn’t enough). They gave the mariner the ability to navigate the oceans, the builder to design great works of architecture, and to the everyday artisan the tool to create the humble objects that are the stuff of life. Perhaps the most profound function they offer and one that our digital age has all but forgotten, is the unique ability to visualize space. In our hands they are a bridge between the physical world and that blackboard in our minds where ideas take root. As we step off spaces and curves with a pair of dividers in our hands, a picture takes shape in our designers inner eye of the hidden geometry, arcs, and circles.

Dividers are used to strike these arcs but also to unpack the proportions behind each sequence

William Buckland, the designer of Gunston Hall, home of George Mason. Note the dividers in the foreground and the shagreen skin drawing instrument case on the table. Typical of pre-industrial designers, Buckland came from an artisan background trained as a joiner.

They came in a huge variety, from instrument grade works of art wrought in semi-precious metals to hand forged tools fashioned under a smith’s hammer. The classic reference book for the collector is “Drawing Instruments:1580-1980″ by Maya Hambly. Out of print and expensive, any good library should be able to secure a copy through an inter-library loan.

Despite our advances in technology, Dividers still have a lot to offer both the artisan and designer. Someone really needs to write a book about unlocking the secrets of dividers. Oh wait… That’s what Jim Tolpin and I have been working on the last year (By Hand and Eye).

George R. Walker

Note – If you have a unique pair of dividers, snap a picture and send it to

georgewalker.design@gmail.com

I’ll tack it on this post to share with all.

Jim Galloway shared this from his collection of proportional dividers. The lower one is ex-USSR Navy, the other three are shop made. I have found these tools invaluable in photo analysis of pictures of favored antiques. For example the way to proportion the drawers and base of a four drawer chest given the height. This bit of analysis moved forward into both William and Mary, and Queen Anne style High Boys.

Also from Christopher Martyn at www.finelystrung.com

Just in case they’re of interest, here a few photographs of a tiny pair of dividers that I was given more than 20 years ago. The unusual feature is a screw-on scabbard for the tips which, of course, makes it possible to carry them around in a pocket.

Designers Alphabet – C is for …..

is for cyma (Si’ma), a wave or “S” shaped moulding profile. The profile is called a cyma recta when the ends of the profile extend in a horizontal plane and a cyma reversa (or lesbian cymatium) when the profile extends in a vertical plane. Though the curves in a cyma can be configured in an infinite variety of combinations with faster or slower curves i.e. steeper or more gentle curves, it was typical to layout a cyma using 1/6 sections of a circle.

A curve generated using one sixth of a circle has some unique properties. The chord that spans the terminations of the arc is equal to the radius of the circle. It’s also no coincidence that the profiles on hollows and rounds moulding planes generate curved sections that are one sixth of a circle.

Occasionally a designer will desire to make a cyma curve faster, thus more dramatic. Divide the chord into seven parts and use six parts, thus a shorter radius to establish a quicker (steeper curve).

The designer divided the chord into seven parts and then used 6/7 of the chord to swing out and locate a focal point. This results in a slightly more dramatic shadow.

Commercial stock mouldings at the local home center often employ slower curves. My guess it has more to do with the needs of mass production than aesthetics. This wave shaped curve shows up in countless furniture designs beyond it’s use in mouldings, from small elements to the major shapes that make up a form.  If you have an example of an interesting cyma moulding adapted for use in a furniture project or a cyma curve in a furniture design, send me a picture at (georgewalker.design@gmail.com)and I’ll add it to this post.

George R. Walker

Michael Dooley shared this photo of a knife case he built. This form is inspired by the wave shape cyma curve. Infinite possibilities!

Jim Galloway shared this -

This is a blow up showing an entablature that I used on this bookcase and on some other designs. It comes from Georgian Architectural Designs and Details by A. Swan 1757 Dover Pub., plate 44, lower. It is a combination of router and table saw work, though the egg and dart is carved.

Designer’s Alphabet…B is for Baluster

is for Baluster. A small column or post that supports a handrail. They come in a wide variety of forms and can be cylindrical or square in cross section. This form above, illustrated from James Gibbs “Rules for Drawing” is for a baluster fashioned from stone. Furniture builders frequently borrowed these simple forms and adapted them to their own use like this post for a tilt top table (You can follow the build on this table at Musings From Big Pink). Note that in architectural work, balusters fashioned from wood and used in stairways are typically much lighter and slender. These more slender adaptations of baluster forms cross pollinated with furniture forms also, especially turned legs. Take note of architectural balusters as they may be a future inspiration for a furniture design.  If you have an example of an interesting baluster adapted for use in a furniture project or an architectural setting, send me a picture at georgewalker.design@gmail.com

I’ll add examples to this post so we can flesh out some design adaptations for B is for Baluster.

Note, you may want to revisit this in a few days to see some of the examples added to this post. Had some interesting additions to our A for Attic base post.
George R. Walker

Chris Bame contributed this picture of a baluster inspired support for a trestle table. Thanks Chris!

William Duffield who shared the link to Monticello in the comment below also shared this picture of his tilt top table. Note that the baluster form repeats in the small turnings of the birdcage. Thanks William!

Designer’s Alphabet

Starting this month I’ll be posting a little feature I call the Designer’s Alphabet. A collection of design related trivia with bits of architecture, tools, wood, designers, and obscure facts about furniture design you can wow your spouse with.   I hope to toss a new letter out every other week and think I can get through the design alphabet three or four times, hope you enjoy. I borrowed the idea from Greg Shue from Shue Design Associates. I hope he approves.

Attic Base, Drawing by author.

is for Attic base. A moulding sequence used at the base of a column. It mimics the form a tree trunk takes as it spreads to support the mass above it. It’s made up of two convex torus mouldings, separated by a concave scotia moulding profile. Together they combine to give a play of light and shadow that gives the column shaft a distinct beginning. In this case, attic refers to the region of Attica or Athens. Like all classical forms it can appear in many variations. In the case of this architectural example, it adds a smaller torus in the center.

If you have a picture of an attic base profile used in a furniture project, or woodworking architectural project, send it to me and I’ll paste it in this entry.

georgewalker.design@gmail.com

George R. Walker

Here are some contributions from the designer community -

Devon shared this - The tapered column is veneered with curly walnut.  It’s a historically-accurate taper, by the way… the profile is a gentle curve, not a straight line.  Makes for an interesting veneer job.

There are also two proportionately smaller versions on either side of the fireplace. Here are the two sizes, with a panel between them:

Jack Ervin shared this photo from the interior of the Texas State Capital, this illustrates some of the variety incorporated into the form while still retaining the function of supporting the structure.