The origins of Rustic chair-making

Rustic chair-making has its origins in ancient woodland crafts when basic country furniture was made straight from available timber, often in quite basic and naive styles. The term 'greenwood' is used when timber is cut and used within a relatively short drying time. In the case of some oak timber frame work the wood was cut, jointed and assembled within a few days of felling the trees, to make sawing and chiselling easier. For Mike's chairs, the wood used is mainly hazel. The hazel stock comes from locally managed woodland and is cut by Mike with the permission of the landowners. After cutting, the hazel is stacked for drying for about 2-3 months before being used in the chairs. Although the wood isn't actually 'green', it is relatively fresh and natural - compared to the artificially kiln-dried timber one might buy from a builder's merchant or DIY store. As far as possible Mike makes his chairs without the aid of modern power tools. He works mainly at a 'Shavehorse' and uses old traditional handtools such as the drawknife, spokeshave, scraper, auger, bowsaws and knife. The seating on the 'Rustic/Country' chairs is woven rush . On the 'Theme' chairs, Mike uses rope, rush or canvas in the main. The seating on the 'Driftwood' chairs tends to be old rope, old canvas or wood slats.

The Victorians were great enthusiasts of the rustic style, and this is often evident in family and studio photographs of the time.

Leading influences of Rustic furniture, in present day times, include Daniel Mack and Mike Abbott. These, and other rustic furniture makers, produce very useful books on the craft (see Links). Mike's beginnings in rustic chair-making come from attending one of Alison Ospinas rustic chair-making courses in beautiful South West Ireland (see Links). No one person is the originator of rustic furniture chair designs. They have evolved over centuries in areas where woodlands provide available material for their production. Mike's designs and ideas for chairs are his own. Sometimes a design is very natural and based on the shapes and forms of the hazel rods and poles collected. Other designs can be more 'arty' and sculptural whilst some designs are quite 'wacky' and humorous.

Site Design by Harris-John.net - Web design, IT Solutions.