The following is excerpted from “Good Work: The Chairmaking Life of John Brown,” by Christopher Williams. It’s the first biography of one of the most influential chairmakers and writers of the 20th century: Welshman John Brown. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ John Brown by his own admission wasn’t a fan of finishing. (See Good Woodworking issue 63.) “American chairs are…
Read moreEarlier this month a John Brown chair surfaced at auction that was a highly unusual form: a comb-back rocking chair. Commissioned in 1988, the chair was made for a family with a newborn and served as a nursing chair. From the seat up to the comb, the chair resembles JB’s cardigan chair, the chair he…
Read moreChris Williams – who worked with John Brown for years and wrote a biography about him – is teaching a Welsh stick chair class in our shop this week. Yesterday, the students saddled their seats. Chris convinced at least a few of them to try his preferred method for rough stock removal: the adze. We…
Read moreChris Williams – who worked with John Brown for years and wrote a biography about him – is teaching a Welsh stick chair class in our shop this week. Yesterday, the students saddled their seats. Chris convinced at least a few of them to try his preferred method for rough stock removal: the adze. We…
Read moreHouse & Garden magazine in the U.K. has a nice feature on vernacular stick chairs and cricket tables in its current issue. You can read the article here. Tim Bowen of Tim Bowen Antiques is quoted throughout. Tim and Betsan Bowen authored “The Welsh Stick Chair,” a lovely book that we stock. (It is the…
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