As we’ve worked on David Savage’s forthcoming book “The Intelligent Hand,” I’ve been sourcing a number of images both to secure permissions and to get high-resolution versions suitable for print. While my sleuthing skills are reasonably well-honed, one cluster of images has me beat. I’m hopeful you can help.
The images above and below show Euclidean proportions in the 17th-century Katsura Imperial Villa, located in what is now a suburb of Kyota, Japan.
I’ve paged through numerous books on the villa (in both English and Japanese) and spent hours online looking for these specific sketches, but no joy.
If anyone can identify the source, I’d be grateful. Post a comment or drop me an email (my name below is linked to my address).
The “Mayor’s Chair” in the archives of the University of Kentucky’s Museum of Art.
I’ve just finished my article for Mortise & Tenon Magazine about Chester Cornett’s “Masterpiece Bookcase Rocker.” I believe Cornett called his bookcase rocker a masterpiece for its expert joinery, its level of adornment and care of construction – but over his eccentric career there were more than a few momentous chairs, each of which distilled or showcased a particular set of skills. In the bookcase rocker, it was his use of traditional joinery and form to accomplish an outlandish and beautiful chair (and you can read more about it in the upcoming Issue 5 of Mortise & Tenon). But for one of his other momentous pieces, the “Mayor’s Chair” (actually made to be presented to President John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated before that could be effected), Cornett showed his incredible talent with an entirely different discipline – hickory bark weaving.
The Mayor’s Chair is a feat of handcraft, with walnut posts and rockers, and hickory rungs. But beyond its base construction, every flat surface, from the lids of the baskets used as armrests to the panels below the seat and the seat itself, is woven in narrow hickory bark Cornett harvested himself from the hills of Perry County, Ky. And, where most weavers have the luxury of hiding splices and material defects on the bottom of the panel, most of these panels are visible from both sides, and thus have nowhere to hide imperfections. With a technical skill I hadn’t known Cornett to have (or hadn’t looked for), he wove each panel without defect, with all surfaces that are visible showing minimal splices and few (if any) defects or errors.
Beyond the beautiful execution of the standard herringbone pattern, Cornett displays a few other astonishing skills on the chair. For one, the octagonal seat is woven with the same pattern – a pattern not particularly suited to anything but four-sided panels. He solved this issue with a complex method of weaving over the proud corners of the bark, leaving a uniform, pointed edge that allowed him to adhere to the rectilinear pattern.
A near invisible splice, one of only a few visible on the chair.
It is also worth noting his ability as a technician. After looking at the chair for a few minutes, I realized I hadn’t noticed a single splice (typically on a hickory bark seat, splices are a noticeable but inoffensive reality). Instead, the splices are near invisible, so expertly are they done, and even then, few and far between. For one, this is impressive from a raw material standpoint – the strips Cornett harvested must have been first-rate, long and free of defects that didn’t necessitate the use of a large number of splices of shorter lengths. Second, the straightforward talent that it took to simply execute these fine splices, using only a buck knife (as he was known to do) is impressive.
Were the chair just an expert exercise of weaving, it would impress me. Maybe even more exciting than this display of technical skill, however, is its unforced incorporation into the form of the piece. The bark’s coloration and patterning beautifully complement the simple walnut posts. The usual outrageous adornment often found in Cornett’s large rockers, such as 6″ gothic finials and oversize carved pegs, are understated in this chair. This shows an understanding of understated design in a chairmaker to whom most assign the dismissive term of “folk artist.” In using simple pegs and a squatter, simpler finial, Cornett does nothing to overpower the design, showing his self-awareness and ability not only as a technician but as a designer and craftsperson intimate with his medium and its presentation.
In this chair, Cornett once again defied my expectations and preconceived ideas about what he was capable of. I expected to see a beautiful chair, yes, but like so many others, I had imagined the woven panels would be an over-the-top adornment by a chairmaker obsessed with pushing outrageous designs. What I found was an expertly executed chair, in both joinery, shaping and weaving, that is charming and inviting, not outrageous or overzealous. The more I spend time with Cornett’s chairs (there are two more on my shortlist to visit soon), the more I realize just how sincere his forms and abilities were. He was an eccentric character, for sure – but his chairs are nothing if not sound designs and solid constructions that grow from his eccentricity while solidly reflecting his immersion in a traditional craft handed down by skilled hands.
P.S. Thank you to Janie Welker at the University of Kentucky Art Museum for her time and patience in letting me come to view, photograph and drool over (not on!) the chair. I have found the custodians of Cornett’s work around Kentucky and the Midwest to be terrifically welcoming to this shaggy young furniture maker, and the UK Art Museum is no exception. Thanks Janie!
Registration is now open for some additional fall classes at the Lost Art Press Storefront. Each student is supplied with a heavy workbench with a full suite of workholding options. And the climate-controlled storefront is filled with natural daylight and features hardwood floors (which are kind to your back). The storefront itself is situated in the heart of Covington’s Main Strasse historic district. Students are steps away from great food, bars and lodging.
And if you bring your family, there are lots of activities for them to enjoy in Cincinnati, which is only eight blocks away.
Classes tend to fill quickly. If you are interested in a class and it is full, please do sign up for the waitlist – spots do open up.
Tomorrow morning (Aug. 3, 2018) at 10 a.m. Eastern, registration will open for a handful of new classes scheduled through the end of this year:
To those we’ve added one from Joshua Klein: Restoring & Using Wooden Bench Planes. It’s a one-day class on Friday, Sept. 7, and Joshua is staying for the LAP open house on Sept. 8 to celebrate the release of his new book, “With Hands Employed Aright: The Furniture Making of Jonathan Fisher (1768-1847).” (Joshua and his wife, Julia, are making the long trek from Maine for the Open House and book release – they don’t often make it to this part of the country – it’s worth stopping in to say hello and check out a copy of his gorgeous book!)
Here’s the class description from Joshua:
“I do not think the tools such as were used in the days of my youth can be surpassed. Even admitting the excellence of the modern tools that are used by hand, the old joiner’s affection remains for the old style of tools. He feels a spirit of affinity in a plane made of warm beech that does not seem to exist for him in cold hard steel.” – Walter Rose (1937)
Wooden bench planes are more than quaint relics screwed to the walls of kitschy restaurants. In fact, the entire pre-industrial world was built using this ingenious tool that is little more than a block of wood with a cutting iron wedged into it. This is astonishing to modern woodworkers who assume newer is always better. But wooden planes have many advantages over their metal-bodied counterparts including: lightness, lack of sole friction, comfort in use, intuitive adjustment, tactile feedback and a matchless beauty.
In this class, students will bring their own grubby second-hand planes to learn to remove grime while preserving patina, repair broken components, fine tune the bed, wedge, and iron/cap iron for optimal performance, flatten soles, and finish with shellac. The remaining time in the class will be spent exploring the (intuitive and simple) adjustment method in practical use at the bench.
The goal of this class is to empower 21st-century woodworkers to give these time-tested, but often neglected, tools a new life.
There are 10 spaces available (not much space is needed for the work, so we’re able to share a few of the longer benches for this one). Registration for the class is free, then students will be billed $150 (which includes everything but the planes).
My daughter Emalyn, cool as always, using the spring pole lathe at Old Salem.
I just posted my first post at my new blog Eclectic Mechanicals. After all this time I finally decided to give it a go. The blog will, of course, be focused on woodworking and a lot of what goes along with it thrown in for good measure. I feel it will be a journey for all involved.
And no, Mr. Schwarz has not run me off or anything like that. I will still be posting here on occasion as well. Sorry I could not get started off with some good gossip.
Registration is now open for some additional fall classes at the Lost Art Press Storefront. Each student is supplied with a heavy workbench with a full suite of workholding options. And the climate-controlled storefront is filled with natural daylight and features hardwood floors (which are kind to your back). The storefront itself is situated in the heart of Covington’s Main Strasse historic district. Students are steps away from 
Tomorrow morning (Aug. 3, 2018) at 10 a.m. Eastern, registration will open for a handful of new classes scheduled through the end of this year: