You can buy The Art of Chairmaking for only £20/ $28 (+P&P)! Usual RRP £25 / $35
🇬🇧 For UK readers, visit giftstome.co.uk and use offer code R6007
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Jason Mosseri has poured all of his green woodworking knowledge into The Art of Chairmaking, which provides a complete overview of the materials, tools and techniques needed to make a chair from scratch. He begins with advice on how to set up a furniture-making workshop, then describes all the essential tools and equipment and how to source and prepare timber. The techniques section covers each process step by step, with an emphasis on traditional methods such as steam bending and pole lathe turning.Â
The five projects are suitable for both beginners and more experienced furniture makers, and include a three-legged stool, square stool, low back armchair, Shaker-style bench and a lobster pot armchair. This is all illustrated with beautiful photographs taken in Jason’s rural workshop and his love of the craft shines through. This is a wonderful book for any makers interested in trying out green woodworking and heritage crafts.
Photographs by Jason Mosseri & Andrew Perris/GMC Publications
We meet Sussex-based green woodworker, chairmaker and author Jason Mosseri
Jason Mosseri has always been a maker. A variety of life experiences – including art school, travels in India and a career as a tattooist – eventually led him to chairmaking, specifically Windsor chairs. In 2014 he set up his workshop in East Sussex and in 2017 he launched his business Hopesprings Chairs, where he makes modern Windsor chairs and furniture, with a strong emphasis on finely balanced, sculptural form and strong bold silhouettes, grounded in the traditional aesthetic of historic chairmaking. He works with green wood and mainly uses traditional hand tools such as the pole lathe.
As well as making bespoke furniture, he teaches short chairmaking courses at his workshop and at West Dean college. He is also an author, sharing his chairmaking techniques and five projects in his new book, The Art of Chairmaking.
You went to India after art college in the UK, can you tell us about your experiences there and the art you were inspired to produce?
I travelled in India for a period of time in the early to mid 1990s, working the summers in the UK, and heading off to Delhi in September or October for six-month stints. I spent my time visiting many of the wonderful and ancient sites that pepper the country, visiting ashrams, walking in the Himalayas and usually spending at least two or three months painting and partying in Goa. I have travelled down the centre of the country, around the edges, across the mountains and even to its islands in the Bay of Bengal.
India still has a fond place in my heart, and I look forward to visiting again. It is truly exotic and wonderfully peculiar, colourful and spectacular.
Mixing with other travellers, for the first time in my life I felt that I had met my ‘people’, many interesting folk from many backgrounds and cultures, living life on the move and living out of a backpack.
You also worked as a tattoo artist for 20 years – how did you get into that? Was there a particular style that you specialised in?
I became interested in tattooing as I travelled and fell into the craft quite naturally. It suited my skills as a draughtsman, and my interest in outsider art and counterculture. I was introduced to the trade of the tattooist by a Brighton tattooer called Lesta (RIP), and worked at his shop for many years before setting up my own studio, 1770, with my friend and business partner, Alex Binnie.
We covered all styles, but particularly the three basics: traditional, blackwork and Japanese. The shop had a solid reputation for progressive artistic and large work, benefitting from many committed long-term clients. My tattoo career lasted 20 years, and our shop was a busy and creative space that was home to many talented tattooers over the years.
Do any of your previous experiences and art practices influence your current work, or the way you approach your work?
I approach my work, whatever the subject, in a similar way. I keep sketchbooks of ideas and plan drawings. I spend a lot of time thinking about ideas before actioning them, and my work has a strong graphic threshold.
What drew you to sign up for your first Windsor chairmaking course? Did you have much furniture making or woodworking experience before that?
When I signed up for my first chairmaking course, I was simply seeking out a new direction and a fresh experience. I had no furniture-making experience, but had made many wooden items, interiors and small buildings.
I was very inspired at that time, by a number of publications by a Californian called Lloyd Khan (Shelter Publications), that explored self-builds, traditional construction and alternative lifestyles. That inspiration contributed to the decision to go on a ‘log to chair’ course, without electricity. I was also a bit of a chair fetishist.
Can you explain the differences between the English and American Windsor chair styles? Do you have a preference for one or the other?
There is a definite distinction between American and English Windsor chairs, but it is a surface difference – the deeper tradition is the same. It seems that the American chairmakers just developed a slightly different style, a little more ‘rakish’. It’s similar to the difference between British and American automobiles in the 1950s and 60s – the Americans just took design to an extreme! It may have something to do with a breakaway from European convention, or it may have simply been artistic exploration and design. I’m not sure … but there are many stylistic differences in turning shapes, leg angles, seat drill points, carving and detail, and structural differences too.
And the two countries have differing regard for the Windsor tradition: in Britain, folk are used to seeing Windsor wheelback chairs by the dozen at pubs and restaurants across the country, but they don’t seen to be highly valued. By contrast, in North America, they have fine examples of historic chairs in many of their state and historic buildings. It’s a style that relates strongly to the formation of the United States and its independence as a colony, from Great Britain. In the UK, we have a vast array of influences and tastes from all over Europe, Scandinavia and earlier British furniture making, so the humble Windsor chair takes a back seat in many ways. It’s country furniture.
What do you think are the reasons for the enduring popularity of the Windsor chair, both for makers and users?
There is a resurgence of popularity with the Windsor chair currently. That is thanks in many ways to contemporary examples by a few good makers, and also to the heightened popularity of green craft.
The Windsor chair is also an honest piece of furniture. It can be made by hand, from indigenous hardwoods … it is a truly sustainable object. Nicely designed and made examples sit well in contemporary and period homes. They are very characterful and are also bridging the gap between country furniture and fine furniture.
You use traditional methods and tools for making your chairs, such as the pole lathe; why do you prefer those to power tools?
I, personally, choose to use as many hand tools as is practical, in the shaping and build of my chairs. In particular, the use of a pole or treadle lathe.
I am a pretty good pole lathe turner and I love the rhythm and physicality of the pole lathe. Sure, it’s a little slower than a machine, but it stops and starts on a sixpence, produces little noise, can be set up outside and doesn’t create sawdust or dangerous snags while working. There’s no need for a facemask, and you can turn to the same extent as with a machine. I’m also not in any great rush, I want my chairs to be special.
Why do you think it’s important to preserve heritage crafts?
The world’s got itself into a hurry. There’s so much ‘convenience’. Yet we and our environment are becoming stressed and damaged by our lifestyles. Heritage crafts offer the chance to work with slower methods and with natural materials, and many people are discovering the benefits of working with their hands, in similar ways to our skilled ancestors. It can be a tonic.
What kinds of timbers do you use to make your chairs, and where do you source the wood?
Sourcing timber locally was a challenge to start with, but there are many well-managed estates and woodlands in Sussex. It takes time, but I have built some good relationships with owners and managers, so that I can source good quality, well-managed and certified timber when I need it.
I mainly use ash for turning and sometimes cherry or sweet chestnut. Seats are made from English elm, cherry, sycamore, beech and sometimes timbers from farther afield, such as French walnut or European cherry. I try to keep it local, to a greater extent.
What finishes and decorative touches do you use on your chairs?
I’m a big fan of the painted chair, which is more popular in the US, and if I paint a chair, I use milk paints. They are heavy going for a finish, but the results are very strong visually.
As well as making chairs, you also teach chair and stool-making courses. What do you enjoy most about teaching?
Teaching represents a chance for me to share my skills and enthusiasm with students. It gets me out of my workshop and into nature – my workshop is in a gorgeous 250-acre Sussex woodland. And it gives me a precious income stream. Making chairs for a living is very niche, and can be pretty challenging! As a small business, I keep it varied: shows, commissions, teaching at colleges, teaching independently, demonstrations … and now a book!
Your new book includes five chair projects. Do you have a favourite design from these?
The first two smaller projects will get you in the groove, and the final three will challenge and expand your skills. They are all patterns that I build regularly, but if I had to choose … well, the Lobster Pot Armchair is one of my favourites. It embodies the West Country primitive chair, while remaining graceful and full of chatter.
What particular design of Windsor chair would you recommend to beginner chairmakers as a first project?
Beginners should probably start with a stool. It covers basic design and geometry, and is not overly complicated. But it does rely on some fundamentals of chairmaking: legs, mortises and wedged tenons.
You can buy The Art of Chairmaking for only £20/ $28 (+P&P)! Usual RRP £25 / $35
🇬🇧 For UK readers, visit giftstome.co.uk and use offer code R6007
🇺🇸 For US readers, visit IndiePubs.com and use offer code IPP4026