August, 1920 
35 
SHOREDITCH FURNITURE 
An Attempt to Evolve Machine-Made Cottage Types That Are Good 
in Design and Cheap in Price 
H. D. EBERLEIN 
the 
moving into 
living 
Washstand, dresser 
and chair of deal 
painted and grained 
HE humblest house 
can be made pleasant 
at no greater cost than is in¬ 
curred in making it ugly.” 
This is an axiom that fur¬ 
niture designers the world 
over have been trying to ap¬ 
ply. Nowhere is it more suc¬ 
cessfully shown than in 
Shoreditch furniture, a new 
type created by Mr. Percy A. 
Wells of the London City 
Council Shoreditch Techni¬ 
cal Institute. 
It is a type of furniture 
that should interest that vast 
army of people who are solv- 
problem by 
or building 
small houses and who have a 
minimum sum to spend on 
their furniture. It makes no 
pretense at achieving or 
modifying period forms, but 
represents a logical evolution 
from the simplest cottage types. 
Best, perhaps, of all is the fact that the de¬ 
signs for this furniture are not subject to patent 
or copyright restrictions nor confined to manu¬ 
facture by any one establishment. Any manu¬ 
facturer may obtain scale drawings of the va¬ 
rious pieces by applying to the proper quarter. 
Derived as these furniture forms are from 
unpretentious cottage types, their straightfor¬ 
ward vigor carries a sense of satisfaction and 
conviction. They are manifestly fit for the 
purpose for which 
they are intend¬ 
ed. Actuated by 
the firm belief 
that a marked im¬ 
provement could 
be effected in the 
design and manu¬ 
facture of com- 
m o n household 
things, Mr. Wells 
based his designs 
upon three cardi¬ 
nal principles:— 
Fitness for pur¬ 
pose, sound con¬ 
struction and 
pleasant form 
and color. 
Materials 
The materials 
of which this fur¬ 
niture is chiefly 
made are bass¬ 
wood, birch and 
deal. Other 
woods, of course, 
can be used if de¬ 
sired, but the cost 
is thereby in¬ 
creased while no 
advantage is 
gained. 
The basswood 
A simple bed, 
with night 
stand, bureau 
and chair suf¬ 
ficiently furnish 
this cottage 
bedroom 
and birch are either stained 
and wax-polished, set with 
shellac, or merely wax-pol¬ 
ished. The deal is painted, 
which affords an opportunity 
to add the enlivenment and 
interest of color. In some 
cases the paint, while still 
wet, is combed with a grain- 
er’s comb, without any at¬ 
tempt to simulate the grain of 
a wood but merely to impart 
a varied texture. For in¬ 
stance, in finishing one bed¬ 
room set the colors used were 
blue on green, and the ground 
color, green, shows through 
the blue combing with very 
agreeable effect. 
In line, this furniture is 
simplicity itself and the pro¬ 
portions are pleasing to the 
eye. All unnecessary mold¬ 
ings and other features that 
do not contribute to structural 
soundness or subserve some specific purpose 
are eliminated, and yet there is no monotony. 
In the table with curved ends, a departure from 
straight lines enhances the appearance. 
A whitewood side¬ 
board is stained 
brown and waxed 
Labor-Saving Features 
It should be noted that in addition to sound, 
simple structure and direct lines, every possible 
consideration in the designing of this furni¬ 
ture has been given to convenience and labor- 
saving features. It is all planned with a view 
to ease in dusting 
and cleaning and 
any ready harbor 
for dust has been 
sedulously avoid¬ 
ed. The dresser 
was designed to 
combine a maxi¬ 
mum of storage 
capacity in the 
smallest dimen¬ 
sions, while the 
top above and the 
floor beneath can 
easily be cleaned. 
F u r th ermore, 
there are no 
square angles to 
catch dust. In 
the wardrobe non- 
essential cornice, 
pediment, and 
plinth have been 
discarded and it 
is raised enough 
from the floor to 
facilitate dusting. 
