The Making of an Oak Swill Basket – from stem to strip…
Working wood from a stem of green oak up to 8 inches diameter into a strip of the very same piece of oak only 1/16th inch in thickness takes both craftsmanship and commitment;…
Interview with Owen Jones, the last full-time Cumbrian Oak Swill Basket Maker.
Like the oval ring of hazel that forms the structure of an oak swill basket, this ancient craft has turned full circle and has returned to its beginnings – from cottage industry to…
An appreciation of the skill involved in making a shoehorn, by Chris Mason, Factory Manager at Abbeyhorn.
Shoehorns are an invaluable spoon-shaped tool for putting on leather shoes without eroding the structure of the heel of the shoe as well as fraying the edge, and given the expense of a…
Interview with Paul Cleasby, owner of Abbeyhorn; making and trading horn products since the 18th Century.
Working with horn, one of the earliest raw materials crafted by man, is almost as old as Lakeland’s high hills, which are incidentally home to Abbeyhorn, the last remaining horn works in the…
An interview with Lars Gustavsson, founder of Farmer’s Racer bags.
The simple phrase ‘it’s in the bag’ has the universal meaning that something desirable is accomplished and this sums up a Farmer’s Racer bag perfectly as a desirable object that has been designed…
Interview with Thomas Ericsson, CEO of Gränsfors Bruk.
Axes, from the Stone Age to the present day, have been a vital tool for millennia, and whilst most of us do not need to use an axe every day in order to…
Q&A with Matt Deighton, MD of Sofas by Saxon; makers of handcrafted Chesterfield sofas.
Immediately recognisable, and often coveted and aspired to, the iconic Chesterfield with its overarching design of low back, rolled arms and deep buttoning, has been, since colonial times, the generic sofa design, and…
Continuing the craft of Japanese boatbuilding - Q&A with boatbuilder, writer & researcher, Douglas Brooks.
Boatbuilder first, then writer & researcher is how Douglas Brooks describes himself in a self-effacing modest kind of way, however, his commitment to the curation and continuation of the ancient but fast-disappearing craft…
An overview of the work of Finnish architect and designer, Alvar Aalto.
In today’s design-saturated world, Finnish architect and designer Alvar Aalto’s modernist legacy endures as a testament to his great genius. Born ‘Hugo Alvar Henrik Aalto’ in 1898 in Kuortane, a small municipality in…
An interview with historic lacquer & paint specialist Pedro da Costa Felgueiras of Lacquer Studios, London.
Pedro da Costa Felgueiras is a Japanner, in other words a lacquer and paint expert, with a passion for paints from the past. But, Pedro’s specialism goes way beyond the ‘heritage’ hues we…
