Page 60 - Constructing Craft

James Chapman-Taylor. Photo: Alexander Turnbull
Library.

Later, during the craft movement of the mid to late twentieth century, many forms of

craft were produced using wood but it was in the field of studio furniture that craft

made from wood realised its highest levels of quality. This can be explained in part
by the skills that had been developed during the colonial era and the later Arts and

Crafts period as well as by the quantity and diversity of timber available to
craftspeople. An issue that has caused some debate amongst craftspeople and

writers is the way someone is identified as a craftsperson and amongst those

working in wood this point has been particularly problematic. Many of the early
‘woodworkers’ were in fact designers rather than makers. For instance, John

Allingham (architect), Garth Chester (designer), John Crichton (designer), Tibor
Donner (architect), Michael Payne (architect) and Ernst Plischke (architect) were

not makers, but nevertheless inspired later studio furniture makers through the
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quality of the finished products they designed.

Constructing Craft