So while I get back to fighting weight....I decided to pick the 10 most influential furniture designers in history.

Here's the link: http://furnitology.blogspot.com/

What do you guys think????

Cool,

glad to see you have had the time and energy to get discussions moving again.

You are d'man even if you do wear a beret. Hey, maybe that will make Ronaldo feel better.

one should also carry his baguette under the armpit

back to the list, I would also add the chinese guy who invented the cabriolet legs,
which were also used in France since Louis the Great period.

speaking of the Chinese furniture designer. Ive been looking for some online pictures of the original versions of the what became the modern ball and claw foot. Does anyone have any pictures, or a link to some?

Ah, now we know why the French do not put butter on their baguette.

As i understand it the list was 20 long, i'd be interested in seeing the other ten who didn't make it before rendering any opinion. Just to make sure I don't "put foot in mouth".

I have an itsy, bitsy, teenie, weenie problem with the Renaissance and the Shakers. Historically speaking.

Sottsass? Really?......... :shock Informative though, well thought out.

Hey NY-NY:

Here's the names I started with. Not in any form of importance, directly out of notes

Giuseppe Maggiolini
JohnTownsend
Cotswold School
Duncan Phyfe
Louis Marjorelle
Mackintosh
Ruhlmann
G. Stickley
Gerrit Rietveld
Bauhaus.....listed Mies, Breuer,etc then wrote, Albers and stopped
Philippe Stark
Edward Wormley
Modern....listed Aalto, Eames, Arne Jacobsen, Saarinen....again stopped listing
George Nelson
Jean-Francois Oeben
A.C. Boulle
Paul Evans

Thanks Neil..

I would of given the Shaker's slot to the Arts and craft movement. More of a contribution to the masses.

Furniture making started with the Egyptian's as did just about everything else. When your the first to do everything you always get first place.
The Egyptian's were telling stories on their furniture(and everything else they saw) long before the Renaissance ever got started. Every furniture maker in history has borrowed or sampled there technology or designs. Some food for thought below.

NY-NY.......that's not a 5 minute post...thanks!!!!

excellent point, I always skip over the first chapter of Furniture history, I just feel that the most impact started with the Rennaissance. Sometimes the first batter to the plate strikes out. To me (opinion) Everything looks so uncomfortable.

I do like your example of the lamp form. Without research I would have to say the only individual who has used an Egyptian furniture form to establish themselves is Judy Kensley McKie.

As for Arts and Crafts, I struggled terrible justifying somebody but couldn't do it, the most impact I believe (opinion again) was Stickley but he did it by manufacturing not handcrafted as the movement desired. This approach of man and machine is covered by Wegner, so this lead me to Sidney Barnsley but what was his identifying impact.

Fun exercise and maybe if somebody else puts a list together, a "criteria" should be established which I didn't do but on viewing, a manufacturing ability seems to weave through my list.

A good starting point, IMHO, should be prescriptive literature published by architects, furniture makers, and decorators through the eighteenth century, with some representative names to include Palladio, Gibbs, Chippendale, and Hepplewhite. Works by these and others of their ilk held major sway when published and continue in relevance.

Palladio puts you back in the Renaissance (he was active in the XVIth century).

My wording wasn't clear. I meant (from way back) up to and including the 18th c.

nice photos here as well
http://earlywarn.blogspot.com/2010/02/p ... cient.html

So, the Egyptians invented dovetails and frame and panel and most likely
they also had hand planes (the Romans did have), and marquetry.
Hard to beat!

So, the Egyptians invented dovetails and frame and panel and most likely
they also had hand planes (the Romans did have), and marquetry.
Hard to beat![/quote]

And my favorite, the first veneer slicers. The first to develop what we now call "plywood", inventors of animal hide glue. Unlike Chippendale that got theirs the old fashioned way , they went out and killed it.

the first "how to " veneering manual with photos.

the first saw to cut on the pull stroke (ripped off by the japanese)

the first boat builders( none has been found to pre-date Khufu's)

the first climate controlled skyscraper

They had some stellar alumni as well that they taught the trade too. Moses was fished out of the Nile, adopted, and learned how to carve stone. Carved and authored a two tablet best seller. Thanks a lot Egyptians........

Then JC gives Noah the blueprints for the ark, Noah gets his boat building skills from the pharaohs.

Prior to the Romans conquering the Egyptians, the Romans sat on marble thrones and padded marble and sandstone blocks. When a roman died they wrapped him or her up in an ace bandage , dug a hole, and threw in the hole. Anybody ever find a Roman mummy in Rome?

They recently found Roman mummies at KV63 about three years ago. The conqueror's became the conquered, totally adopted the Egyptian culture.

which you can still see in furniture design to this very day. the picture attached shows the influence, Egyptian feet at the base of the column, but a Roman bust as the capital.

the lower foot design is clearly Egyptian, but morphs into a Roman woman's figure .

I wouldn't be surprised if one day some archaeologist pops out of a hole in the desert with a lazy-boy recliner in his hand.

NYNY,
Your knowledge overwhelms me, really it does.
I wish I knew half as much about the history that you do.

And Neil, same goes to you. this is a great thread!!!! Thank you!

Now we are talking impact...... if a lazy-boy shows I'm never skipping chapter 1 again.

Well, These are the top most influential furniture designers of home furnishings, chosen throughout the world and contemporary history as best designers in their field. Most of significant brands and design houses in contemporary decor have been directly influenced, inspired or have worked with these furniture icons.

home bar accessories


What about the furniture designers of today?

Darrel Peart while doing truly exceptional work is reproducing Greene & Greene design themes. David Marks is great, and woodworks was definitely an inspiration to myself, but I don’t feel as though he particularly has a defining style and that goes for a lot of the folks mentioned – great craftsmen with solid bodies of work – but lacking in an overarching philosophy.

While a number of the people mentioned here are indeed exceptional craftsmen I’m not sure that any of them are producing truly iconic work. The Maloof rocker, Krenov cabinet, and Nakashima tables go beyond being well crafted – at this point they are pretty much archetypes.

Sorry for the double post.. Just noticed it..

yep, what reproducing something from early last century has to do with "today"?
I think that most "forefront" designers are not doing stuff in wood...

I think that most "forefront" designers are not doing stuff in wood...[/quote]

Not all of us subscribe to that theory. I'm keepin' it real....... Thin wood anyway.

Everyone is going to have there own views or tastes. Socioeconomic status, demographics and regional influences will also play apart in determining our top ten. If you go into most of your common furniture stores today and look at what they are selling - its big, bulky, Look back in time to the Pilgram Period in this country.

As far as Neil's list goes - I think, the Shakers should be #1. Here are my reasons:

1. Their designs have stood the test of time.
2. Peaceful and harmonious.
3. Simple
4. Often imitated
5. Innovative
6. Green technology - barrowed light

The list goes on. Not only was the list applied to furniture but also incorperated into their architecture.



Even to this day, their stair rails have just as much style or more than whats available currently.

IMHO, this is hideous. I wouldn't waste my money on something like this or even have it in my house. So this designer to me is irrelevant.




Beauty in simplicity.
Form follows function.

Townsend & Goddard
Maloof
Castle
Greene & Greene, Roycraft, Stickley

Except for the chairs, much of the shaker furniture is federal furniture without the ornamentation and hardware. The shakers were founded around the same time federal furniture took hold in the US.

Also much of what we see is generations of shakers refining there style.

then of course there is what is sold now as "shaker inspired"

It is a great post about furniture designer.

Different, all those furniture designs are so different and unique yet elegant.I liked a few of them, but one thing I must mention that they are not for everyone and for everywhere.