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Amish furniture is furniture manufactured by the Amish, primarily of Pennsylvania, Indiana, and Ohio. It is generally known as being made completely out of wood, usually without particle board or laminate. The styles most often used by the Amish woodworkers are generally more traditional in nature.
Amish furniture first gained attention in the 1920s, when early American folk art was "discovered", and dealers and historians placed great value upon the beauty and quality of the pieces. Many different styles of Amish furniture emerged. [1] The Jonestown School began in the late 18th century in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania. The Jonestown School is most widely known for painted blanket chests decorated with flowers on three panels. Examples of these chests are on display at both the Smithsonian Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
Another distinctive style of Amish furniture is the Soap Hollow School, developed in Soap Hollow, Pennsylvania. These pieces are often brightly painted in red, gold, and black. Henry Lapp was a furniture maker based in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and it is his designs that most closely resemble the furniture we think of today as Amish-made. He was one of the first to abandon the painted, Germanic-style influence in his furniture and opted for an undecorated, plain style, following more the styles of Welsh furniture making of the time. The order book he offered to his customers contained watercolor paintings of his pieces and is now in the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The record price for American folk-painted furniture was sold at Sotheby's in 1986. It was a tall case clock made in 1801 by Johannes Spitler that sold for $203,500.
Because Amish beliefs prevent the use of electricity, many woodworking tools in Amish shops are powered by hydraulic and pneumatic power that is run on diesel compressors. Most communities permit some technology, and allowances can be made in the case of woodworking, as the craft often supports multiple families within the community.
Great attention is paid to the details of the wood in the furniture-making process. Each piece of wood is hand-selected to match the specific furniture in mind. Attention is paid to the grain of the wood, both in gluing pieces together and in achieving the desired look of the finished piece. Amish furniture is also valued for its sustainability and is considered a "green" product. The Amish woodworkers pride themselves in their work and view their products as both pieces of art and furnishings to be used and lived in for generations.
Amish furniture is made in many different styles. [2] The Mission and Shaker styles share a few characteristics. Mission is characterized by straight lines and exposed joinery. It is often considered to be clean and modern in design. [3] The Shaker style is plain, yet elegant and has a very simple and basic design aimed at functionality and durability. [4] The Queen Anne style is in direct contrast to the Mission and Shaker styles. It is considered traditional, with ornate moldings, unique foot details, and carved ornamentation. Other styles available include Southwestern, Rustic, Cottage, Country, Quaker, and Beachfront.
Amish furniture-making is often a skill passed through many generations. Most Amish children rarely attend school beyond eighth grade, often to help out at home, or in the shops. Many families become known for their specific design details and niches. Some woodworkers focus only on outdoor furniture, others on pieces for the living room or bedroom. No piece of furniture is ever identical to another because of the care taken to select the wood. The grain is different on every piece of wood, and the craftsmen often try to highlight the features of each individual piece.
During the second half of the 19th century, Grand Rapids became a major lumbering center, processing timber harvested in the region. By the end of the century, it was established as the premier furniture-manufacturing city of the United States. For this reason it was nicknamed “Furniture City”. After an international exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876, Grand Rapids became recognized worldwide as a leader in the production of fine furniture. [5]
A furniture-makers’ guild was established in 1931 to improve the design and craftsmanship of Grand Rapids furniture. National home furnishing markets were held in Grand Rapids for about 75 years, concluding in the 1960s. By that time, the furniture-making industry shifted to North Carolina.
Much of Grand Rapids furniture has now been outsourced to Asia. In that time, Amish builders have acquired much of the old machinery once used. However, because Amish beliefs prevent the use of electricity, many woodworking tools in Amish shops are powered by hydraulic and pneumatic power that is run on diesel compressors.
In recent years, the Amish furniture market has expanded to include online sales. The Amish craftsmen, because of their beliefs, are prohibited from running the websites. Non-Amish retailers often attend Amish furniture expositions in Ohio and Indiana to see Amish furniture on display and meet the craftsmen behind the pieces. Relationships are often developed, and the retailer becomes the middleman between the simple life of the Amish woodworker and the modern buyer.
Furniture is now available to a wider market and to those who may not be in close proximity to an Amish woodworking shop. It is no longer necessary to visit a retail location to select the unique wood and stain combination desired; this can all be done on the Internet, and there are dozens of different wood, stain, and upholstery options to choose from. The finished furniture is shipped directly from the stain shop to the consumer.
Amish furniture is made with a variety of quality hardwoods, including northern red oak, quarter-sawn white oak, cherry, maple, beech, elm, mahogany, walnut, hickory, cedar, and pine. Northern red oak is a very popular choice for American consumers for its warmth, color, and durability. It is typically grown in Eastern U.S., particularly in the Appalachian Mountains. White oak is slightly harder than red oak and can be cut to show more ray fleck. The antique look of white oak makes it ideal for Mission and Shaker styles. Cherry has a light reddish-brown color that will darken with light exposure. Maple wood offers a spectrum of beauty from different angles, and is popular because of its consistency in grain and taking stain well. [6] Hard (or hard rock) maple is harder than oak, whereas soft maple (also called brown maple) is softer. American beech is white with a red tinge and bends readily when steamed. Elm ranges in color from nearly white to brown with a red tinge and is fairly stiff and heavy. Mahogany is typically used in high-class furnishings because of its attractive finish. As mahogany matures its color varies from yellowish or pinkish to deep red or brown. Walnut is heavy, hard, and stiff and ranges in color from nearly white in the sapwood to dark brown in the heartwood. Walnut holds stain, paint, and polish well. [7] Hickory is harder than oak and distinguished by extreme contrasts of light and dark colors. Hickory's sapwood is a creamy white while hickory's heartwood is a red, pink or reddish-brown color and often referred to as red hickory. [8] Cedar has a deep rosy glow and stripes of light golden sapwood. [9] Eastern white pine is a soft wood. It tends to have more knots than a hardwood and can yellow with age. [10]
Woodworking is the skill of making items from wood, and includes cabinetry, furniture making, wood carving, joinery, carpentry, and woodturning.
Wood is a structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic material – a natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin that resists compression. Wood is sometimes defined as only the secondary xylem in the stems of trees, or it is defined more broadly to include the same type of tissue elsewhere such as in the roots of trees or shrubs. In a living tree it performs a support function, enabling woody plants to grow large or to stand up by themselves. It also conveys water and nutrients between the leaves, other growing tissues, and the roots. Wood may also refer to other plant materials with comparable properties, and to material engineered from wood, or woodchips or fiber.
Furniture refers to objects intended to support various human activities such as seating, eating (tables), storing items, working, and sleeping. Furniture is also used to hold objects at a convenient height for work, or to store things. Furniture can be a product of design and can be considered a form of decorative art. In addition to furniture's functional role, it can serve a symbolic or religious purpose. It can be made from a vast multitude of materials, including metal, plastic, and wood. Furniture can be made using a variety of woodworking joints which often reflects the local culture.
Joinery is a part of woodworking that involves joining pieces of wood, engineered lumber, or synthetic substitutes, to produce more complex items. Some woodworking joints employ mechanical fasteners, bindings, or adhesives, while others use only wood elements.
An antique is an item perceived as having value because of its aesthetic or historical significance, and often defined as at least 100 years old, although the term is often used loosely to describe any object that is old. An antique is usually an item that is collected or desirable because of its age, beauty, rarity, condition, utility, personal emotional connection, and/or other unique features. It is an object that represents a previous era or time period in human history. Vintage and collectible are used to describe items that are old, but do not meet the 100-year criterion.
Shaker furniture is a distinctive style of furniture developed by the United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, commonly known as Shakers, a religious sect that had guiding principles of simplicity, utility and honesty. Their beliefs were reflected in the well-made furniture of minimalist designs.
Wood stain is a type of paint used to colour wood comprising colourants dissolved and/or suspended in a vehicle or solvent. Pigments and/or dyes are largely used as colourants in most stains.
Louis-Jean-Sylvestre Majorelle, usually known simply as Louis Majorelle, was a French decorator and furniture designer who manufactured his own designs, in the French tradition of the ébéniste. He was one of the outstanding designers of furniture in the Art Nouveau style, and after 1901 formally served as one of the vice-presidents of the École de Nancy.
In furniture-making, the upholstery frame of a piece of furniture gives the structural support and determines the basic shape of the upholstered furniture. The frame may be a basic piece of wooden furniture prior to its being upholstered. Like a finished piece of furniture prior to the upholstering, the frame establishes the final quality, including its durability, and sets limits upon the final design, padding, cushioning, or cover.
A Windsor chair is a chair built with a solid wooden seat into which the chair-back and legs are round-tenoned, or pushed into drilled holes, in contrast to other styles of chairs whose back legs and back uprights are continuous. The seats of Windsor chairs are often carved into a shallow dish or saddle shape for comfort. Traditionally, the legs, stretchers, and uprights were usually turned on a pole lathe. Spindles may also be carved, using drawknives and spokeshaves. The back and sometimes the arm pieces are formed from steam bent pieces of wood. Traditional Windsors are typically painted, primarily to hide the different types of wood used in construction, based on their characteristics.
James Krenov was a woodworker and studio furnituremaker.
Wood finishing refers to the process of refining or protecting a wooden surface, especially in the production of furniture where typically it represents between 5 and 30% of manufacturing costs.
Reclaimed lumber is processed wood retrieved from its original application for purposes of subsequent use. Most reclaimed lumber comes from timbers and decking rescued from old barns, factories and warehouses, although some companies use wood from less traditional structures such as boxcars, coal mines and wine barrels. Reclaimed or antique lumber is used primarily for decoration and home building, for example for siding, architectural details, cabinetry, furniture and flooring.
Thomas Day (1801–1861) was an American furniture craftsman and cabinetmaker in Milton, Caswell County, North Carolina. Born into a free Black family in Dinwiddie County, Virginia, Day moved to Milton in 1817 and became a highly successful businessman, boasting the largest and most productive workshop in the state during the 1850s. Day catered to upper-class white clientele and was respected among his peers for his craftsmanship and work ethic. Day came from a relatively well-off family and was privately educated. Today, Day's pieces are highly sought after and sell for high prices; his work has been heavily studied and displayed in museums such as the North Carolina Museum of History. Day is celebrated as a highly skilled craftsman and savvy businessman, specifically in regards to the challenges his race posed to his success in the Antebellum South.
Lyctus carbonarius is a wood-boring beetle in the family Bostrichidae, commonly known as the southern lyctus beetle or lyctid powderpost beetle. It is a serious pest of hardwoods including ash, hickory, oak, maple and mahogany and can infest many products in the home including hardwood flooring and structural timbers, plywood, furniture, tool handles, picture frames, baskets and ladders. Timber can be infested in one location and then be transported large distances by ship, after which the beetles can emerge and spread the infestation to new areas.
Widdicomb Furniture Company was an American furniture company.
A cabinet is a case or cupboard with shelves and/or drawers for storing or displaying items. Some cabinets are stand alone while others are built in to a wall or are attached to it like a medicine cabinet. Cabinets are typically made of wood, coated steel, or synthetic materials. Commercial grade cabinets usually have a melamine-particleboard substrate and are covered in a high pressure decorative laminate, commonly referred to as Wilsonart or Formica.
Furniture created in the Art Nouveau style was prominent from the beginning of the 1890s to the beginning of the First World War in 1914. It characteristically used forms based on nature, such as vines, flowers and water lilies, and featured curving and undulating lines, sometimes known as the whiplash line, both in the form and the decoration. Other common characteristics were asymmetry and polychromy, achieved by inlaying different colored woods.
Louis XVI furniture is characterized by elegance and neoclassicism, a return to ancient Greek and Roman models. Much of it was designed and made for Queen Marie Antoinette for the new apartments she created in the Palace of Versailles, Palace of Fontainebleau, the Tuileries Palace, and other royal residences. The finest craftsmen of the time, including Jean-Henri Riesener, Georges Jacob, Martin Carlin, and Jean-François Leleu, were engaged to design and make her furniture.
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