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A Brief History of Victorian Designer’s Influence on Modern Contemporary Design

admin — Tue, 12 May 2009 04:10:04 +0000

Since all movements are contemporary to the time they were began the term Modern furniture may seem confusing, especially when its roots go back over one hundreds. A child spawned from the functional designs and philosophies of the Arts and Crafts Movement, Modern furniture designs was as influenced by the revolution against Victorianism as it was later swayed by pop aesthetics 60 years later.

Sparse, clean, oversimplified, organic and often based on geometric shapes many people, especially those who really do not understand or prefer Modern designs, would find it surprising how much of their lives are touched by contemporary Modern design or how much thinkers like William Morris, Louis Sullivan and others of their era, actually inspired the movement.

Morris engaged in the practice of warm and fuzzy, if not always practical, ideals and dreams for society. He felt it not just a wish but an essential of civilized society to insure that it provide its citizens, one and all, with aesthetically pleasing and functional things to look at and use. He however was convinced that the quality he sought could not be accomplished by machines but only by craftsmen and women by hand. He set his goal beyond reason, since the amount of artisans it would take to create the massive amounts needed to furnish the world’s homes was not possible – without machines, that is. Morris also developed this school of thought just as we were entering into the great Industrial Revolution and once entered in to there was no going back completely.

Early modern designers grasped the philosophy that the great orator Morris taught but felt that machines could be manipulated to be as artistic as any man and that mass production would accomplish Morris’ goals. Henri van de Velde was one of his peers who believed that the machines could be guided to create beauty. They all agreed in the principles but not how to get there. They also agreed in the simplicity of design seen in the Arts and Crafts and Mission designs. The American architect Louis Sullivan, who once influenced the father of organic design, young Frank Lloyd Wright, believed that form indeed followed function and went so far as to suggest that we should purge ourselves of ornamentation for a few years so we could enjoy the structure in its original concept.

While it seems a stretch from the heavy oak Mission type Morris reclining chair to the Barcelona chair of the 1920’s once you trace the roots of both philosophy in design concepts, they are indeed closely related. Today the Amish present Modern contemporary furniture that represents these designers’ ideals as well as the elegantly designed home, in custom stained and conceived design collections like the Brookline, Caledonia, Escalade and Kenwood and more.

A Brief History of Heywood-Wakefield: Why Going Blonde Wasn’t a Dumb Idea

admin — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 11:31:38 +0000

The Amish craft solid wood designs that often replicate the popular look of Heywood-Wakefield. Unless you have a love for solid wood furniture from the golden era of Modern design (circa 1936-1966) you may be unfamiliar with the name Heywood-Wakefield and the furniture associated. Among admirers and collectors of this company’s designs it is wildly popular. Its famous eagle mark, found emblazoned on the underside or in the drawer of an original piece, sets hearts racing.

Heywood-Wakefield had over 100 illustrious years of creating top quality furniture before it introduced its “Heywood-Wakefield Modern” furniture line in the 1930’s. In about 1826, when John Quincy Adams was the nation’s president, a group of five brothers in Gardner, Massachusetts, Walter, Levi, Seth, William, and Benjamin Heywood began crafting simple, handmade, wood chairs in a small barn. Originally the majority of the brothers were store proprietors but helped Walter part-time in the wood shop. The boys did well and by the late 1800’s the Heywood Brothers Company was producing a much larger variety of furniture than seating.

Along the way the brothers absorbed its biggest acquisition, Cyrus Wakefield’s Wakefield Rattan Company. Initially they ran it as a joint operation, and the two firms became known as The Heywood Brothers and Wakefield. Fortunately they shortened that to Heywood-Wakefield Co.

Within five years, Levi Heywood moved to Boston. Here he established an outlet store for the family to sell the Heywood brother’s chairs. Benjamin and younger brother William stayed behind in Gardner to manufacture. Tragically, in 1834 a fire destroyed the Heywood’s chair shop, causing Levi’s return to Gardner a year later. The shop was never to be rebuilt. Initially comprised of Benjamin, Walter and William Heywood, Moses Wood and James W. Gates, a definitive partnership-B. F. Heywood & Company was formed in 1835. It was then that Levi Heywood persuaded the company to move to the shores of Crystal Lake in Gardner. The company factory would remain here until the business closed its doors more than 140 years later.

As the Industrial Revolution moved forward in the Victorian age, Levi’s insisted on the installation of new machinery, much to the dismay his wary partners. By 1844 a second partnership-Heywood & Wood had been formed, with Levi and Moses Wood only. By 1849 Wood’s name had disappeared from the company’s title. Then in 1851 Heywood Chair Manufacturing Company was born.

In contemporary times the furniture company became famous for its Modern Line. The company was able to partner with a stellar group of designers such as Russell Wright, Gilbert Rhode, W. Joseph Carr and Alexis J. Saknoffsky. This progressive group of designers created modern furniture from what many misidentify as maple. Instead the company used solid birch that was steam bent and left blonde. The “The Heywood-Wakefield Modern Line,” with its 50’s blonde or modern blonde birch, was unprecedented. Various lines were introduced with names like “Sculptura”, “Crescendo” or “Kohinoor”. These were aesthetically appealing, high quality and creativity.

At one time the company created and delivered items ranging from chairs, to baby furnishings, railroad car seating, rattan designs, and even toy vehicles. While the company did use many types of wood, the birch was its signature. Sadly it seems all good things must come to an end and the Heywood-Wakefield Company retired itself into the legend only a blonde could live up to in 1966.

Modern Contemporary Furniture by Modern Amish Craftsmen

admin — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 03:57:32 +0000

Modern furniture buyers are both savvy and sophisticated consumers. Like Mission, Shaker and Arts and Crafts the Modern furniture consumer is not just a buyer but an investor and a collector. Many of these knowledgeable furniture connoisseurs have found the Amish craftsmen of Northern Indiana have held true to the Modernist’s ideal that human beings can create a beautiful environment by improving and reshaping their surroundings with furniture in sturdy and functional designs.

Modern furniture, also known as contemporary design, began to develop as part of a series of reforming movements in the late 19^th century and early 20^th century. This movement affected almost every aspect of life from art to literature to home design. New and progressive ways to design using the latest technologies and philosophies were celebrated as Modernism came into vogue. Stepping free of the gilded and overly indulgent era of the Victorians, and riding on the new age of the Industrial Revolution, designers were captivated by new ideals in religion, politics and every day living – including the some of the most basic elements – like furniture.

By deviating from the norm of heavy decoration and the more-is-better philosophies that had overtaken the world in the latter half of the 1800‘s, the minimalist modern furniture designer found a sense of freedom while also empowering the home owner to play a creative role in designing their own home. A modern home dweller can indeed create a residence of timeless clean lines and light and airy open spaces.

Many modern furniture producers are still seeking out new and abstract pieces and materials. The Amish have developed their line of modern and contemporary home furnishings in native solid hardwoods. Although designers like Ferdinand Kramer believed in mass production, many of his designs were similar to the simplistic nature of the Shakers, whom many designers of contemporary furniture emulated. The Amish hold true to those designs. Hans Wegner’s solid wood pieces could stand side by side with the Amish Kenwood or Yorkshire table.