Arts and Crafts furniture and Danish Modern furniture were both movements in design that gained popularity after starting small to become internationally influential.  Both share common qualities and features which to some degree account for their success.  Arts and Crafts furniture and a major part of Danish Modern furniture (up until around 1950) both exploited wood as a material, employed fine craftsmanship, and looked to the past for design features.  These three characteristics will be examined in detail in the following pages. 

                Wood has been a common material for furniture since the beginning of time because of its durability, ease of malleability, depending on species, and its inherent beauty. Both Arts and Crafts furniture and Danish Modern furniture exploited wood as a material, and made it a central feature of their designs.  The furniture of Arts and Crafts and Danish Modern both involved a “truth to materials“ ethic, revering wood for its unique appearance and its enduring beauty.  Both styles frequently used oil as a finish, because it did not obscure the wood in any way, but was soaked up by the wood becoming “one“ with the wood.  It also did not change the appearance of the wood in any way. With some finishes, lacquer for example, wood can almost begin to have a plasticized appearance. It has been said by Robert Former that objects that are close to the body should be mentally comfortable [1].  Since wood has been used in furniture for so long, it looks to have achieved that mentally comfortable state for many people.   Arts and Crafts specifically used wood because of the movement’s desire to revisit a preindustrial era of handicraft, which promoted the satisfaction of the general worker.  Arts and Crafts specifically exploited wood as something that was beauteous, and therefore pieces made did not need much decoration and adornment.  The corners of the hexagonal Craftsman table, (see Figure 3 )by Gustav Stickley, 1901, have no moulding;  it was felt that none was needed.  Subtle chamfers are used at the feet, to keep the look from acquiring the plank effect.  The white oak used is quartersawn to highlight the ray fleck and reveal the exuberance of the wood, echoing the truth to materials ethic.    In the Danish Modern style, the development of something known as the Teak Style (which employed Teak as the major wood), was exemplified by designers such as Hans Wegner and Finn Juhl.  Other designers like Alvar Alto and Bruno Mathsson used wood extensively and successfully in their designs. An excellent example is the Mathsson Lounge, circa 1940, which would not have achieved the same “wow”  factor if wood was not the principal material.  In Hans J. Wegner`s Chinese Chair, 1946 (see Figure 1), natural or stained beech or cherry is used to produce an attractive and functionally successful chair, without much decoration. The decorative effect is expressed in the form of the chair and the wood that is used.  The backrest of the chair is an example of something simple and functional yet is beautiful in its simplicity, and is actually technically complicated to produce, making it interestingly exquisite.  The choice of wood for this design, since it was technically complicated to produce, means that the designer had an attraction to wood, and felt that it would best communicate the feeling that was intended.  In Hans Wegner’s JH501 or Classic Chair, the oak is aged two years before fabrication[2], to achieve an even patina to the piece.  As well, in Wegner’s folding chair, the oak used is smoked after assembly and before finishing to produce a beautiful unique colour.  

                Both Arts and Crafts furniture and Danish Modern furniture employed fine craftsmanship in their designs.  With the Arts and Crafts focus on simplicity and truth to materials, it would only be natural to highlight and embellish the one thing that was the backbone of the pieces, namely the joints.  In the Craftsman table (see Figure 3) the stretchers contain through mortise and tenon joints penetrating the legs, which are pinned on the outside of the leg.  This gives the table strength and rigidity, as well as providing an interesting design element, and a degree of technical difficulty. The hexagonal craftsman table (see Figure 3), although appearing somewhat rectilinear in its form (because of the unadorned edges and lack of curves), is actually complex in the fact that its legs join the stretchers at an awkward angle. This angle makes it difficult to produce a mortise and tenon on the end of the stretcher, which was the joint used in this case.  In Danish modern furniture, the Chinese Chair by Hans J. Wegner (see Figure 1) employs steam bending to formulate the back and arm rest, which is technically difficult because the single part curves in two directions.  This part therefore takes a number of forms to produce, as well as some research into selection of wood for successful bending, and orientation of the bend.  The joint from the back splat to the back rest is a mortise and tenon joint, which is hard to produce in a curved member such as this back rest.  As well, the joint from the arm supports to the frame of the seat is half lapped, instead of just being connected into the top of the rail, making it a design feature.  This would also be technically difficult to produce and then sculpt as is the case in this example.  Another example of fine craftsmanship is exemplified by Alvar Aalto’s Fan Leg stools and tables designed in 1954.  These pieces were beautiful in simplicity, and employed no screws to hold them together, only glue and strong wood joints.  The legs of the stools and tables were backsawed and integrated in the wood of the seat or tabletop.  This joint was pioneered by Aalto to efficiently connect the seat or top to the legs .   

                A common characteristic of  Arts and Crafts furniture and Danish Modern furniture is  the fact that they both are influenced by past furniture movements.  Arts and Crafts furniture was influenced by Shaker furniture, being similar in its simplicity in form, quality craftsmanship and reverence for wood. A comparison is shown in Figures 2 and 3, as Figure 2 depicts a Shaker trestle table.  Both the Arts and Crafts and Shaker furniture achieved beauty in their simplicity, thereby gaining a demand for their work.  Both used traditional craftsman joints such as the mortise and tenon, which in both styles was often pinned for extra strength.  As well, both used external decorative elements “with reservation” to slightly embellish their pieces.  Shaker furniture designers used finely turned handles to add interest to their pieces.  On the other hand, Arts and Crafts used decorative iron hinges that were a feature in the way that they were mounted on the exterior, to add interest.  Both of the decorative elements remained strictly functional, as were dictated by the principles of these movements.  Danish Modern furniture, specifically the designer and professor Kaare Klint, criticized the Bauhaus rejection of influence from the past, and felt that one should study to learn from existing successful designs[3] . He specifically drew influence from eighteenth century English furniture, and became one of the most successful forefathers of Danish Modern.  Another designer that drew influence from the past was Hans J. Wegner.  Specifically, his Chinese Chair (see Figure 1) , 1946, draws influence from a Chinese chair from the Ming Dynasty.  The back and arm rest (one piece of wood) of the two chairs are very close to being the same, and the bent wood splat is quite similar also.  The Chinese added decorative carving to their pieces (carving which served no purpose other than to decorate), but in keeping with the Danish Modern mantra of simplicity, Wegener’s pieces included no decorative carving, only complicated joinery (which involved carving).  Another piece that was heavily influenced by the past was Hans Wegner’s Peacock Chair, JH 550.  This piece is fashioned like a traditional Windsor style chair. 

                Although there are main features that are similar in the Arts and Crafts furniture and Danish Modern furniture, there does exist major differences.  Arts and Crafts furniture was somewhat rectilinear in form, as in the Craftsman table by Stickley, (see Figure ).  Danish furniture employed curves in their pieces on a regular basis, whether through steam bending parts, or sculpting.  Many of Hans J. Wegner’s chairs had curved back rests that integrated the arm rests resulting in one unit.  As well, the Danish Modern furniture had a much smaller and lighter form than the Arts and Crafts furniture.  When World War Two ended, there were a lot of new homes built for soldiers returning from the war.  These homes were built in great numbers, and to speed up the process of construction, they were made smaller than houses built before.  The Danish Modern furniture designers had to cater to this clientele, therefore making their pieces smaller so they wouldn’t take up as much space.  Another major difference was the differing viewpoint the two movements had on the use of machinery while fabricating pieces.  The Arts and Crafts movement was principally against the use of machinery, even though some manufacturers went against this principle to save costs, trying to achieve the desirable look of Arts and Crafts but using machinery to save time.  The Danish Modern furniture designers used machinery without reserve, because it would lower the price of the furniture.  For example, The lathe was used in Hans Wegner’s chairs to round the legs, and the rails between the legs, and to put the tenon on the end of the rails.

                The Arts and Crafts furniture movement and Danish Modern furniture movement are both examples of successful movements that incorporated strong principles and became internationally desirable.  Arts and Crafts furniture and the major part of Danish Modern furniture (up until around 1950) both exploited wood as a material, employed fine craftsmanship, and looked to the past for design features.  The reason for the popularity of these movements is evident; they fit into and collaborated with international desire and demand during their own respective eras.  With the similarities of these movements outlined, the handicraft appeal in furniture seems like it might be something that could reoccur in future generations.  One problem, the pricing involved with producing furniture by hand, is being positively addressed by Patty Johnson in her North/South Project.  She has designed furniture to be produced in the African nation of Botswana and Guyana in South America, that employs handicraft, is beautiful, and caters to the Western market.  The furniture can be produced economically because of the lower wages in these countries.  Is this part of what the future will entail regarding the production of handmade furniture?

Works Cited

Miller, Judith.  Furniture: World Styles from Classical to Contemporary. New York: DK Publishing, 2005

Stimpson, Miriam.  Modern Furniture Classics. New York: Watson-Guptill Publication

Fiell, Peter. Modern Furniture Classics:  Postwar to Post-Modernism. London: Thames and Hudson

Dormer, Peter. The New Furniture: Trends and Traditions. London: Thames and Hudson

Gossel, Peter. Twentieth Century Furniture Design. New York: Taschen

The Harbourfront Centre: Massclusivity. 2007. http://www.harbourfrontcentre.com/noflash/visarts/innovators.php

Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing. New York: The Modern Language Association of America

Rodel, Kevin P. and Binzen, Johnathan.  Arts and Crafts Furniture: From Classic to Contemporary. Newtown: The Taunton Press

[1] Peter Dormer.  The New Furniture: Trends and Traditions. (London: Thames and Hudson) 26.

[2] Stimpson, Miriam.  Modern Furniture Classics.( New York: Watson-Guptill Publication) 101.

[3] Gossel, Peter. Twentieth Century Furniture Design. New York: Taschen 183.