Mr. Smith goes to England

MR. SMITH GOES TO ENGLAND

The collection also includes a drop-leaf tea table in book-matched mahogany; collector's chest in maple solids with olive ash burl; side chair with Queen Anne leg and pad foot; Louis Phillipe-style secretary with a cushion drawer; library or writing table of crotch mahogany and zebrawood; and William and Mary chest-on-stand in walnut solids with maple burl drawer fronts. A sideboard of English yew with cherry solids and crotch mahogany overlay and an occasional table with a leather top were October introductions.However as with all things, the prohibitive cost of craftsmanship meant that by the late 19th Century suppliers of Furniture were looking at techniques that could help bring the cost of manufacture down to more manageable and cost efficient proportions and hence the introduction of the earliest forms of machine assisted furniture.I am often asked as to why a study of furniture is so important? Will it solve the Worlds ills, can it help solve World Poverty (yes if the stuff is manufactured in the right places at the right costs but that is another matter)?PHOTO : Smith is shown with the reproduction desk and chair from Hekman Furniture Co.'s Charles Dickens collection. The desk and chair are exact copies of those used by Dickens from 1858 until his death in 1870, and where he wrote "Great Expectations" and "A Tale of Two Cities."PHOTO : Back in Grand Rapids, Smith checks the fit of a drawer in a library table at the white wood stage.The key to the collection is function. "Each piece has a function," Smith said. "I didn't make that up." But new pizazz comes from the select veneers of feather crotch mahogany, fine-grained English yew, cluster maple burl and olive ash burl and the bands of zebrawood, prima vera and yew wood Hekman uses in borders and trim.Antique white bedroom furniture does not have one particular and definitive style. It can be found in a wide range of designs so that you can personally select one that matches your tastes and home d�cor. The fact that it is different in colour means that it gives a room a better, lighter quality than most bedroom furniture and adds an elegance to every room that is hard to create from scratch.Antique white bedroom furniture combines European and American styles. This combination makes it completely different to anything that has ever been created before, although it has been subjected to a few attempted recreations since. It has an innate sense of style that can fit in with most individual tastes so very few people actually dislike it. Most antique furnitures are an acquired taste but antique white furniture is not too hard to get used to! For more info see http://www.antiquefurniturersource.com/Antique_Furniture_Hardware/Replacement_Hardware_For_Antique_Furniture.php on Replacement Hardware For Antique Furniture.Drawer ConstructionPegged Construction"As I came to know Mrs. Dickens, I realized she was not attempting to establish another Williamsburg or Wintherthur foundation. She didn't insist upon preserving every little detail. With her approval, I made certain changes to the designs," Smith said, "but I kept all the proportions the same. We tried to stay as authentic as we possibly could, and still be able to sell furniture.Launching the licensing venture, Hekman's first in 69 years of operation, has been exciting and challenging, according to Henslee. He said the collection appeals equally to Dickens fans, to admirers of historic reproductions and to people who just appreciate good design. Royalties paid to the Dickens Heritage will benefit children's charities.Early Drawers were characterised by the thick sides or linings which were usually channelled so that they could run on bars or runners fixed to the sides of the carcase. As you can imagine these developed quite considerably as the items of furniture or drawers that they were designed to support became more and more delicate and sophisticated. From the 17th Century onwards as with other forms of furniture, the practice of just using simple pegs and runners all but died out to be replaced by more sophisticated runners being placed beneath rather than at the sides of the drawers.Smith grew up in the furniture business. He learned cabinetmaking from his father, who learned from his father. He believes designers should know machine capabilities. "A good designer knows what you can cut on a band saw, how high the fence can be raised, the collar diameter on a router to get minimum shape on a round.As to how important furniture is?Other bedroom furniture comes in a rainbow of browns. Everything from mahogany to walnut to oak usually makes it into a bedroom but can make it seem smaller somehow, not to mention overbearing, and antique white furniture marks a distinct difference. It is undoubtedly unique and thus is definitely more difficult to find. Its popularity does not help with this problem but could potentially raise its value even further.It was during the 17th and 18th Centuries that Furniture Construction as we know more of it nowadays came into its own. With the appearance of Thomas Chippendale (1718-19) furniture manufacture became more sophisticated in its design and execution with finely executed joints and a carcase (body of the item of furniture) that was as well made as the fa�ade.PHOTO : Three drawers are set into the base of a Louis Phillipe-style secretary. Eleven drawers are in the upper cabinet, behind doors. Additional drawers, including a cushion drawer, are hidden.It started with a deskFor the purpose of this article we will be looking at Furniture from the following aspects: Pegged Construction and Drawer Construction, and then in the next article a detailed look at styles of two items of furniture, Chairs and Tables.|Nothing is left to chance'Until the early 18th Century, furniture was constructed by and large using a �Pegged� or �Joined� technique using Mortise-and-Tenon joints held together held together quite often just by wooden pegs or dowels and on very rare occasions, nails.Quite often, as the years would go by these joints and pegs would find themselves being pushed out of shape and this is quite often an indicator of firstly, how old a piece is and secondly how well cared for an item of furniture is with the appearance of these joints.Call it a dream assignment. George Smith does. In fact, when Smith, who is director of design at Hekman Furniture, Grand Rapids, got the call to go to England to examine antique furniture belonging to the heirs of English novelist Charles Dickens, he was sure he was dreaming. Smith was hospitalized at the time, recovering from surgery, when Dan Henslee, Hekman president, telephoned and asked him to make the trip to Spofforth in North Yorkshire, England.PHOTO : A library table/writing desk pairs highly-figured crotch mahogany with a band of zebrawood. Carved rosettes decorate its apron and a modified egg-and-dart moulding trims the base.Replicas of the Georgian-style pedestal desk, where Dickens wrote three novels, and his three-splat bow chair with a cane seat and turned legs are the nucleus of the collection. The slant-top desk, an exact reproduction, is made of mahogany solids and veneers with locking drawers. The oldest of the family's original heirlooms, it was built for Charles Dickens in 1858. The author himself designed the sloped writing surface, which was copied in later desks referred to as Dickensian.While he was in England, it was the Christmas season. Children would gather outside, holding lighted candles and singing carols. During a storm, the rectory lost its power and Smith worked by candlelight. "The entire experience was like walking backwards in time," he said."I love to be creative, but if I designed exactly what I want, I'd be gone. I have to design what the dealers expect from Hekman. I have to know the dealers and what they want. If I show a traditional design to a Miami dealer, he'll say, |Get that out of here.' He wants faux marble and glass top tables.""Much of the furniture was in terrible condition," Smith said. Dickens' bookcase, built into his home at Gad's Hill Place in Kent, had been dismantled and stored in a barn. Solid lumber had cracked and split. Tops had buckled. "But the pieces still were worth a fortune. The Dickenses could sell them and never work again, but they won't," Smith said. "They'll hand them down and keep them in the family."PHOTO : The original table in the Dickens' family home.The beautiful finishes are the result of Hekman's multi-step pallet process which includes water bath/stain, wash coat, and multiple sealers and glazings. "We don't do padding," Smith said. "We get our patina the hard way - with a tremendous amount of hand rubbing. Hekman is a hands-on plant."

PHOTO : Thirteen drawers with jewel-box quality cluster maple burl fronts and cast brass hardware are featured in this William and Mary chest-on-stand in walnut solids.

Author: Barbara Garet