On Mon, 29 May 2006 10:54:28 -0700, charlie b
wrote:

Since then I've been studying just one of the twenty or so
pieces of Chinese furniture I inherited from my folks -
72" long, 20" deep and 34" tall - frame and panel top,
four side by side drawers over two pairs of doors all
on "horse hoof" feet -all in rosewood.
snip
I contrast this design/exectution appproach with that
of the current "HOT STYLE" - Arts and Crafts -
fumed oak with "honest" visble joinery as design
elements -shaped ends of through tenons (real or not),
chamfered pegs (real or not) and visible "ebony" splines
on bread board ends, lots of only eased sharp corners
and edges - horizontal grain colliding with vertical
grain square on, rail to stile, apron to leg, the eye
jumping around like a flea on a hot skillet, contrasting
colored details yelling "LOOK AT ME" and "honest" joinery
that may in fact be fake, hiding perhaps a screw or
two - or maybe strictly there as a decorative element.

You make something out of solid rosewood and you get out of the wood's
way. You make something out of oak and you gotta give it a little
help. Try copying that Japanese piece in oak and see if it still
engages you the same way.

The eye doesn't jump around on a well designed arts & crafts piece and
a poorly designed Japanese piece would be dull and odd looking.

Heaven forbid we have horizontal and vertical grain meet each other.
We ought to make everything out of a solid block of MDF so there's no
joints at all.



-Leuf