Charles Hummel’s long and laudable career as a scholar and author of American decorative arts, and his long tenure at the Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library, makes him a living legend – particularly for those who study and enjoy hand-tool woodworking (you can read more about his many accomplishments on the Winterthur web site). Hummel’s … Read more
It would be nigh-on impossible to find a house in the early modern* period that didn’t have a “joynt stool,” “joyned table” or “joyned forme.” What’s a “joynt stool?” Randle Holme, in the fascinating (and massive) tome “Academy of Armory and Blazon” (1688), writes, “It is so called because all made and finished by the … Read more
We’ve just added to our store what I think is one of the most important woodworking books I’ve seen in some time: “Make a Joint Stool from a Tree: An Introduction to 17th-century Joinery,” by Jennie Alexander and Peter Follansbee (Lost Art Press). Sure, given my interest in all things early modern, I’m partial to … Read more
For the first time in seven years, I’m taking an actual vacation. Sort of. My neighbors have agreed to feed the cats, so I’m packing up my car and heading to Pittsboro, N.C., at the end of the month to take a class at Roy Underhill’s The Woodwright’s School. I’m very much looking forward to … Read more
This circa 1670 joint stool is from Wallace Nutting’s “Furniture Treasury.” I’ve been reading a bit of Shakespeare lately (everyone should have a hobby, no?), and in several of his plays, the term “joint stool” appears, often in the service of a taunt. That’s piqued my interest in “moveables,” that is, early modern stuff such … Read more
