Lost Art Press

Daedalus & the Discovery of Order

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The discovery of a pattern seems to me to be an inherent feature of the human experience of making. Whether he or she thinks about it or not, or is even aware of it, a person who makes something implicitly assumes existence of an order or standard of rightness that transcends all recipes and rules of composition: a standard, a pattern, or – to use the Greek word – a paradeigma which both measures the work and is measured by it.

This pattern can be thought of as a single, immutable template to be traced or copied, which appears to be how Plato understood it, or it can be thought of as a mutable rhythm governing a pattern of movement, like the figure of a dance: a rhythm or order (kosmos) that is rediscovered with each new tracing of the figure.

Artists – and by “artists” I mean all people who make things: not just novelists, poets, composers, and painters, but also cooks, gardeners, and seamstresses, insofar as they are not assembly line workers – are an infinitesimal and powerless minority in the Western world, but this was not always the case. The civilization of archaic Greece, which is to say Western civilization at its very roots, has been called a civilization of the artisan….

It is my contention that, with the dawn of Greek thought, the pattern discovered, or allowed to appear, through making was universalized to become the pattern that eventually came to be understood as the one embodied in the cosmos as we understand the word.

— Indra Kagis McEwen “Socrates’ Ancestor” (The MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass.)

Never Go Full Salinger

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After six months of not teaching, I can say it’s unlikely I’ll ever go back to teaching again. I’m getting an incredible amount of work done on furniture, writing, editing and research. And I’m sleeping better.

But as much as I enjoy The Hermitage, I know it’s good to have some human contact from time to time.

So this is a reminder that we will have our doors open at 837 Willard St., Covington, KY 41011 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on May 14. We’ll have all our books there, plus free stickers, T-shirts that are exclusive to our storefront, letterpress posters and we will spray paint the dividers on your butt, if so requested.

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My daughter Katy will be there selling some soft wax, and John (the other half of Lost Art Press) will be there, as will as Raney Nelson of Daed Toolworks.

I’ll also be opening the storefront on Sunday, May 22, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. so that members of the Early American industries Association can stop by on the way home from the organization’s national meeting at the Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill.

Here are the days we will be open for the rest of 2016:

May 14
June 11
July 9
August 13
September 10
October 8
November 12
December 10

We might open one day during Woodworking in America (Sept. 16-18), but it will be tricky to manage because I am teaching the entire weekend and John will be working the Lost Art Press booth during the Marketplace. So stay tuned.

— Christopher Schwarz

A Gallery of Misericords: The Woodworkers

Posted on by saucyindexer
Master Carver with Apprentices, ca. 1419, Kings Lynn (Victoria and Albert Museum).
Master Carver with Apprentices, ca. 1419, Kings Lynn (Victoria and Albert Museum).

After carving scenes from the Bible, parables, the local trades and a full range of human foibles a carver of misericords might turn his skills to a depiction of his craft. The Kings Lynn Master Carver is probably the most well-known and finely-carved misericord. In the space of about 10″ by 22″ (25:4 cm by 56 cm) the carver has the master at his bench, two apprentices at a bench to the left and a third figure approaches from the right with a jug. Their carving tools can easily be seen on each bench. Framing the workshop are the letter ‘W’ with a saw and the letter ‘V’ with a chisel. Remarkable work.

If you aren’t familiar with the misericord it is a carving on the underside of a seat in a choir stall. The top of the seat has a small ledge with the carving below. During religious services choir members had to stand for long periods. For relief they could lean back on the ledge. The modern equivalent is perching on your luggage as you wait at the departure gate because your flight has been delayed. The information sheet for the Kings Lynn misericord has excellent details on misericords and their history.

15th c., Martinkirk, Bolsward, Netherlands. Vandalised by soldiers in 1580.
15th c., Martinkirk, Bolsward, Netherlands. Vandalised by soldiers in 1580.

There are thousands of misericords in churches across Europe and in museums worldwide. Many misericords were destroyed or vandalised for religious reasons, lost or stolen during restorations, or lost during wars. Today, misericords are extremely vulnerable due to their age and also to theft. In many you will see missing pieces:  heads, arms, tools.

15th c., Musee de Cluny, originally from Beauvais?
15th c., Musee de Cluny, originally from Beauvais (?), France.

Several groups have been working to accumulate photographs of misericords and organize them by location and country. Because of differences in descriptions, or a lack of description, it can be difficult to locate misericords that feature a particular subject. A woodworking scene might be described as ‘carpentry’ or ‘occupation’ or have no description at all. There are also plenty of books that are helping to preserve the record of misericords.

Carver working on a rose, 15th c., St. Nicholas, Great Doddington, Northampshire.
Another classic: Carver working on a rose, 15th c., St. Nicholas, Great Doddington, Northampshire.

I’ve been accumulating misericords that feature woodworkers and so far have found 17 from six countries. With each one there are usually tools to note, maybe a workbench to study, or a new body position to try.

You can be your own holdfast, St. Christopher Church, Baden Baden, Germany.
15th c., Christopher Church, Baden Baden, Germany.

We can’t always see exactly what the carver is working on but at least one carver from Oude Kerk made sure we did.

Working a misericord, 1480, Oude Kirk, Amsterdam.
Working a misericord, 1480, Oude Kerk, Amsterdam.

The Rigoley Brothers carved 26 choir stalls for La Collegiale Notre Dame in Montreal en Bourgogne, France. Larger carvings of the life of Christ were done at the end of each row. Atop a few of the end pieces are three dimensional scenes. Below is St. Joseph’s workshop.

1520, La Collegiale Notre Dame, Montreal en Bourgogne, France.
1520, La Collegiale Notre Dame, Montreal en Bourgogne, France (portion).

Adorning the top you will notice a decidely non-biblical scene. The two men enjoying their wine are none other than the Brothers Rigoley toasting themselves.

The gallery has the rest of the roundup. If you happen to see more photos of a woodworking misericord please post a link in comments and include the location of the piece.

–Suzanne Ellison

Update on Lost Art Press Books: April 2016

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A few people have asked for an update on the books on which we are working. I’m happy to fill you in, but please read the following paragraph with care before you comment or ask a question:

The updates below are for projects that are in our hands and we are actively working upon. We have about a dozen books that our authors are working on, either in the shop or at the keyboard. If I haven’t listed a project, that means I don’t have any information on it. Usually this means the author is still working on it. Or the author has temporarily abandoned it. Or something else has happened involving feral goats, the grays and banana pudding.

So if you ask: What about Andrew Lunn’s saw book? The answer is above. I don’t know because the book is not in our hands.

The projects are listed in the order in which I think they will be released. Of course, things change.

‘Woodworking in Estonia’ by Ants Viires
This book is kicking my butt. We have re-translated the newest revised version of the work, and it is as complex as translating A.J. Roubo. I’m about halfway through editing the final translated text (the book is already designed), and hope to have it done next month. Then it will go to press and be out in July.

This book is fantastic, though I suspect it will be a commercial flop for us. It is academic, nichy and discusses unfamiliar tools, projects and ways of looking at the world. Still, I think it’s important to publish and promote it amongst people who work wood (as opposed to historians). If you are willing to make the effort to dive into it, the rewards will be significant.

‘Roubo on Furniture’ by A.J. Roubo. Translation by Donald C. Williams, Michele Pietryka-Pagán & Philippe Lafargue
We are shooting for this book to be released in the fall, we hope in time for Christmas. The text is being polished and will be going to Wesley Tanner, the designer, in four weeks. As with “Roubo on Marquetry,” we plan to publish two versions: a standard and a deluxe.

We’re likely going to release the standard edition first. Then we will tackle the deluxe.

I have remained enthusiastic about this book since the moment I started working on it. There is stuff in this book that you won’t find anywhere else. And no matter what sort of woodworking you do (reproduction, contemporary, indifferent), this book is the big one. Every time I dip into the work I am humbled and amazed.

‘The Woodworker: The Charles Hayward Years:’ Joinery and Furniture
Meghan is in the midst of designing the next two volumes. With any luck we’ll have them out in early 2017.

‘Joiner’s Work’ (tentative title) by Peter Follansbee
Peter has finished the first draft of the text, and Megan Fitzpatrick (how many Megans are in my life?), is polishing it before we send it to the designer.

‘Roman Workbenches’ by Christopher Schwarz
Next month I’m driving to North Carolina to pick up the wood for the two workbenches that will be featured in our first letterpress book. Soon we should have a translation in our hands of an early 16th-century codex that will be the basis of one of the benches in the book. Hardware is being made. Research is being done. Stupid theories are being swapped.

So that’s about that. I wish I had information on the other dozen projects to share with you, but I don’t. So now back to editing “Woodworking in Estonia.”

— Christopher Schwarz

Letterpress Poster Update

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Yes, we are indeed sold out of our share of letterpress posters from “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest.” But don’t despair. Read on before sending us a(nother) nasty-gram.

We sold 500 posters over the weekend. Another 400 posters – personally autographed like the ones we sold – are going to Lee Valley Tools this week for that company to sell. Another 50 (also signed) are going to Classic Hand Tools in the United Kingdom. And we’ll have 50 on hand to replace any that are damaged in shipment (and maybe have a few to sell at our storefront on May 14).

We don’t know when Lee Valley and Classic Hand Tools will begin selling the posters. That’s their decision. We have no say as how they operate (obviously).

Some readers have asked us to do a second run of posters. John and I have decided against that for several reasons. We have books to publish, and lots of them. Also, John and his neighbor are rolling and mailing these posters, and it’s remarkably time-consuming. Finally, these posters are not profitable. We kept the price low to say “thanks” to customers for supporting us all these years. If we continued to publish posters like this, John and I would have to take second jobs at Arby’s.

So keep your eyes peeled at Lee Valley and Classic Hand Tools.

— Christopher Schwarz