There is a furniture maker whose work I have admired for as long as I have been aware of it, Judy Kensley McKie. Even though she is a far up north Y*nkee, her work is awesome. I can't even begin to emulate nor imitate it. This is an example of what she does:
As interesting and contemporary as that piece looks, there are precedents going back to the olden days, not just to the time of Khufu, but to his momma, Queen Hetepheres. She had a chair but at some point over the last 2.5 millennia it had issues. They found pieces of it, and some over-credentialed and overpaid monkeys at Harvard decided to make a repro of the original. This is how it turned out:
Yeah, that doesn't look much like Miss Judy's chair, but wait - check out the detail under the arm of the chair:
More about Ms. McKie's work here.
Details and audio-free video of the work done at Harvard.
And to my friends over at Shopbot, good on ya, lads, you are the best.
Rock the chair.
13 comments:
Monkey chair is the best.
Did Egyptian artists (or craftsmen if you prefer) do spread winged birds? I DON'T THINK SO. So that Harvard version of the Queen's chair lies! He he. The Egyptians or Eggyopians did a strictly side view bird with a single "pinned" wing. My thesis being that a good faith copy of Egyptian art (even the art or decoration on a three dimensional chair) would NEVER BREAK THE PLANE! Of one dimensional representation that is.
The Queen must have been a short-legged woman.
Also, don't lean back in the monkey chair.
When one looks at orthogonal furniture, whether it is from the before times or post-dark ages, one must assume that some pillows or cushions were used to provide comfort.
The style of the leg on the Queen's chair foreshadows, at least to me, both the cabriole leg and the ball and claw style. We just keep recycling old ideas. And by "we" I mean chair builders other than me.
True craftsmen from a long, long time ago, who could produce something so fine without any power tools.
How on earth were people able to make watches way, way back then? How could they have produced all of those small gears, and small screws, with threads to put them into?
I seem like such a caveman with the stuff I do.
Caveman: How come flat spot on stone wheel you made?
Caveman AllenS: Flat tire, I guess.
Not for butts.
I like! This is very cool.
The monkey chair rocks, especially the tails for a back.
DB@H, that is way cool - I have never seen that one, thanks for posting it. Her work is so good I can only look at it in awe. She is truly gifted, but she does work hard.
ELB - the bodies and tails on that chair and the matching settee are cast bronze - very robust.
Her way of looking at forms and visualizing animal forms really resonates with me.
Agreed, Sixty. Her art-furniture is awe inspiring.
Thanks for sharing, chip. I've never heard of her before.
Can't choose between:
You can't put this possum in a cage
or
I ain't ready for the junkyard yet!
as fittin' for what goes on here!
Old George was one for figuring out ways to put his JD lawnmower/tractor to use:
Once, when I had been drunk for several days, Shirley decided she would make it physically impossible for me to buy liquor. I lived about eight miles from Beaumont and the nearest liquor store. She knew I wouldn't walk that far to get booze, so she hid the keys to every car we owned and left.
But she forgot about the lawn mower. I can vaguely remember my anger at not being able to find keys to anything that moved and looking longingly out a window at a light that shone over our property. There, gleaming in the glow, was that ten-horsepower rotary engine under a seat; a key glistening in the ignition.
I imagine the top speed for that old mower was five miles per hour. It might have taken an hour and a half or more for me to get to the liquor store, but get there I did.
http://www.savingcountrymusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/george-jones-riding-lawnmower-john-deere.jpg
As for the furniture--oh my. Such creativity and skill brings up feelings of jealousy before awe finds it's way way through those vibrations to come out on top.
The monkey chair is modern, yet it seems influenced by wood carvings you would see on Borneo or New Guinea. I assumed it was wood, but bronze is interesting (and would make it far stronger).
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