For woodworkers who are interested in chairmaking or vernacular furniture, we now stock a new book from Wales that we think you’ll find invaluable. “The Welsh Stick Chair: A Visual Record” by Tim and Betsan Bowen is a photographic exploration of the best Welsh stick chairs (and other vernacular items) they have studied during their careers as antique dealers.
The book is $27 and is available to ship immediately. U.S. customers can order it here. Customers in the U.K. can order it directly from the Bowens here.
— Christopher Schwarz
Here is more information on the book from our product description:
The best way to develop an eye for chair design is to study lots of excellent and authentic examples. Tim and Betsan Bowen, owners of Tim Bowen Antiques in Wales, have long specialized in vernacular furniture and folk art from Wales and Britain in general. And now they have poured that knowledge into a delightful and informative book, “The Welsh Stick Chair: A Visual Record.”
Published by the Bowens in Wales, “The Welsh Stick Chair” is a photographic record of 31 of the most interesting Welsh chairs that have passed through their gallery in Ferryside. The chairs range from rough-and-ready examples all the way up to the chair that John Brown declared was the finest Welsh form he’d ever seen.
The pieces are illustrated with beautiful full-color photos and text (both in Welsh and English) that discusses each chair’s known provenance, repairs, materials and construction methods. (This is not a book of plans; nor does it include dimensions.)
Many of the chairs in the book are stunning forms, and are examples that you won’t see on the internet or in other books on Welsh furniture. In addition to the 31 chairs, the Bowens included 13 related vernacular forms at the end of the book, including a number of staked stools, cricket tables and a pig bench. Plus there’s a map of Wales that designates where each piece in the book likely originated.
“The Welsh Stick Chair: A Visual Record” is softcover and measures 7” x 9-3/8” with 120 pages. The paper is a heavy matte stock that is nice and white, leading to excellent detail and color reproduction.
If you are interested in vernacular chairs or Welsh furniture in general, this book is highly recommended. Quantities are limited.
Ordered. Thanks for carrying this. I’m sure you’re making bupkuss on selling someone else’s book, but it’s a great service to us to get access to a book from a small overseas press.
Ordered it yesterday after seeing your instagram post. I just built my first arm chair based on the one in your ADB Expanded edition, and I will build a second one soon. It was a challenging build, but very interesting. Thank you again for all the info you have and are providing on chair making.
Ordered my copy today. Thanks for making the book available to your followers, keep up the good work!
Hailing from the UK, I actually studied furniture making in High Wycombe, in the heart of Windsor Chair country, many moons ago. I’d be really interested on whether you will be doing any comparison between Welsh and Windsor chair styles and manufaturing processes. I ask because I had never heard of Welsh Stick Chairs as a “thing” until you introduced us to it, and I see many similarities not just in looks but in process to traditional Windsor Chairs.
All these stick chairs – Welsh, Irish, Scottish, West Country, English – were vernacular forms being made before High Wycombe became a manufacturing powerhouse. The English Windsor became the dominant form in the British Isles and abroad. The other vernacular forms didn’t become mass-produced. They are all related in they way they are built. The differences relate to material and local tradition.
There are lots of great books on High Wycombe and how chair manufacturing evolved to a high art.
There’s not much written on the vernacular stuff. Which is why we are trying to fix that.
Makes perfect sense. I do have more than one book on Windsor chairs. As you mention – they have been well covered through the years.
Thank you for the detailed response and for continuing to bring us quality literature and education!
I meant to ask you this several books ago, but the shipping email I just got reminded me — who the hell is Rudy Molina?
Hi John. Is that who the shipping email comes from? That’s weird and new to me.
Yeah, the last several LAP book shipments have had an email from Rudy Molina. The body of the email starts with:
This message was sent to you at the request of Rudy Molina, to notify you that they have shipped a package to you. For details about your shipment or to track your package, please refer to the information below.
And ends with:
The shipment information contained in this email is provided by Endicia.
For questions about this package, please contact Rudy Molina or U.S. Postal Service.
The first one was very weird. Now, I just have a lot of questions about Rudy. What kinds of beer does he drink? What books does he enjoy? Music? I want to say his wife’s name is Karen, but it could be Katie.
So many questions.
Thanks. I’ll look into it.
See if he has a nut allergy. I want to send him a banana bread, and I don’t know if I should put walnuts in.
So Rudy works at our warehouse in Indiana. I don’t think I’ve met him. So he’s a real guy, not just a figment of the software.
Tell him John says hey, and keep up the good work.
O..M..G This whole thread is hilarious. =D I love how we all naturally assume the cold impersonal hand of automated intertubes when all along it’s just another real person doing real work. I’m still chuckling. 🙂
ps Hi, Rudy!
So glad you wrote about this – I received the same email this morning and wondered who is Rudy.
“Rudy is Real”
That’s our next T-shirt (JK).
Great book. Thank you for putting this out for us on this side of the pond. It is great and I want #44. Maybe you could do a “chair talk” on #44. Stay healthy.