Furniture
Artist made furnishing, such as a hand crafted dining room set or custom cabinet, is often called Studio furniture and can be defined by the scale production, the makers background, the workmanship, and by the method of marketing. Created in limited supply in a studio or shop, the craftsman may have formal training but is frequently self-taught. With enduring reverence for their material and comprehensive technical knowledge of wood and woodworking, true craftsmen pursue their individual design, style, motifs, and methods. This handmade furniture and custom cabinets can be sold through art galleries, at shows, is commissioned by patrons, or purchased directly from the maker.
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BedsWilliam Lawrence Murphy conceptualized the Murphy Bed just prior to the turn of the 20th century. Murphy and wife resided in San Francisco, inhabiting a one-room apartment with a conventional bed that occupied most of the living space. Desiring room to entertain, Murphy created a space-saving bed that could fold into a wall closet. This invention of necessity was initially patented in 1900 and resulted in the formation of the Murphy Bed Company of New York, the second oldest furniture manufacturer in the United States.
CabinetryPrior to industrialization, cabinetry was painstakingly conceptualized and individually hand produced by craftsmen. The advent of the industrial revolution brought about mass production tools and techniques displacing traditional cabinet making as the primary source of cabinetry. The arts and crafts movement, inspired by the prose of John Ruskin, spread from the United Kingdom to the United States in the waning years of the 19th century and brought about resurgence in the demand for hand crafted cabinetry.
ChestsForerunner to virtually all furniture designed for storage, the chest was originally a large rectangular receptacle with access through a hinged lidded top. Commonly used to maintain and organize personal effects, the chest evolved into the chest of drawers by enlarging and cutting in drawers. This progression began with the inclusion of drawer boxes installed within the body of a chest. Further improvements gave rise to drawers set behind hinged doors resulting in a box within a chest. Exactly when the modern chest of drawers arose is virtually impossible to identify owing to parallel development.
DesksDeveloped for the purposes of reading and writing, desks were initially crafted with inclined platforms to aid the scribe as this furnishing was created prior to implementation of printing techniques. Following the advent of the printing press, desks evolved into a petite and portable version of its forerunner known as the desk box, a small box with a slanted lid that no longer required cumbersome supports. Ultimately, the desk box was fitted with legs, which was an essential development in the evolution of the modern desk.
MirrorsConsisting of a reflecting surface that forms an image of an object when light rays coming from that object fall upon the surface, early mirrors were typically small devices made of polished metal and set in a hand held frame. Glass mirrors arrived during the middle ages and were created by coating one side with a mixture of tin and mercury. Silver was substituted as the backing of choice by the mid 19th century and today aluminum is used as the reflective qualities are nearly that of silver yet resists the oxidation that can tarnish a silver backed mirror.
SeatingChairs became a common furnishing within the domains of wealthy Europeans by the mid 16th century. Influenced by the prosperous, seating design became a result of then current fashions. Chair frame construction diverged from weighty angular designs; were fitted with a backrest and crafted with petite flowing lines. Cabinetmakers of the era utilized superior materials and advanced joinery techniques to craft some of the finest seating ever created.
TablesThe table, a rudimentary household accessory, consists of a flat surface supported by legs, pillars or trestles. Fabricated from wood, stone, metal or synthetic materials; tables are sometimes classified by function. Mechanical tables possess the flexibility to be reconfigured, whereas fixed tables remain rigid and unchanging. More commonly tables are categorized by form, which encompasses the material of manufacture, purpose of use, style of construction or fashion of the era.
