Category: Campaign Furniture

…a new T-shirt, of course.

To mark the release of “Campaign Furniture” next month, we’ll be releasing this T-shirt design, which amuses even my wife.

The front features a campaign-style chest of drawers from the 1909 catalog of the Army & Navy Co-operative Society. And on the back…

We’re using 100-percent cotton American Apparel shirts (made in Los Angeles) in an army green with white lettering. The shirts (4.3 oz. cotton) are printed by a small family-run firm in Noblesville, Ind. The shirts will be $20, plus first-class shipping in the United States.

Please note: Mouth-breathing hipster not included.

The shirts might be available a few days before the book. As the shirts will ship separately from the book (thank you, media mail regulations), we’ll likely put them up on the site a few days early so you can be wearing the shirt on the day your book arrives. I know no one will do that. It’s just too dorky to contemplate. OK, I’ll be doing that.

— Christopher Schwarz

French architect and designer Jean-Charles Moreux reimagined the Roorkee chair in the 1930s by imposing classical column details to the chair’s turned legs.

Note how the top turnings – once the handle for moving the original design around camp – have been shaped into a classical column, complete with entasis. Other interesting points (from a maker’s perspective):

• The joints are blind instead of through.
• The front legs are asymmetrical, note the top of the leg where the armrest goes.
• The armrests attach with twist-lock fasteners. I’ve seen this detail on some other later versions of this chair.
• The only odd design choice (to my eye) is the gothic lancet arch shape at the top of the rear legs. Combining gothic and neo-classical shapes always looks wrong to my eye.

If you are interested in seeing more photos (or purchasing these chairs), visit the seller’s web site via 1stdibs.

— Christopher Schwarz

“Campaign Furniture” is off to the printer, and I have the color proofs sitting at my feet. We’re working on getting the cover to our liking (it’s still rough so be still your sharp tongues) and we have been reaching out to our retailers to see if they would like to carry this title.

When the book is released in early March, here are the retailers that have (so far) signed on:

• Lee Valley Tools, Canada
• Tools for Working Wood, Brooklyn
• Classic Hand Tools, UK
• Henry Eckert Fine Tools, Australia
• Lie-Nielsen Toolworks

More to come, we hope.

Also, if you don’t read my blog at Popular Woodworking Magazine, you might be interested in this entry on the Douro chair. The first person to get me access to an original Douro chair gets the first autographed copy of “Campaign Furniture.”

— Christopher Schwarz

I cannot thank Sean and Simon Clarke of Christopher Clarke Antiques Ltd. enough for their assistance with “Campaign Furniture.” While many antiques dealers are hesitant to help woodworking writers with information or photographs, the Clarkes allowed me to visit their store and were happy to help.

If you cannot go to Stow-on-the-Wold and visit the brothers’ storefront, the next best thing is to visit the Clarke’s web site, campaignfurniture.com, which is a gold mine of images and information (click on the “stock page” numbers at the top to start your journey).

I have compiled some of my best photographs into a high-resolution pdf for you to download. There are some good photos of the joinery on a chest and a few interesting chairs and tables, too.

Download the free pdf here: CF_DESIGN_CLARKES

— Christopher Schwarz