THE 
WOOD CARVING AND PYROGRAPHY. 
CRAFTS 
LEATHER AND METAL. BASKETRY, ETC. 
Under the managonent of Miss Emily Peacock, i6j South Ninth street, Brooklyn, N. V. All inquiries in regard to the various 
Crafts are to be sent to the above address, but ivill be ansiuered in the magazine under this head. 
SIMPLE FURNITURE 
ITS STRUCTURE IN RELATION TO USE AND BEAUTY 
Elisabeth Saugstad 
NYONE who knows enough of tools 
and wood-working to make true 
joints, even a girl or a woman having 
sufficient strength, oiight to be able 
to make'simple furniture; and it will 
be useful and beautiful just in the 
degree of the common sense and artis- 
tic feeling exercised. It is a delight- 
ful craft, and the results, when good, 
are so real and thoroughly worth 
while that the time and labor spent seem fully justified, par- 
ticularly when we stop to realize how long a ]3iece of furniture 
may outlive us,and that it depends on our taste and skill whether 
it is to be a constant source of use and pleasvn-e or an imsightl3^ 
encumbrance to generations j^et unborn. 
So it is safe to assume that every true craftsman desires 
his work to possess the qualities of honesty, usefuhiess and 
beauty in their best sense, and he must, therefore, start with 
some conception of what constitutes them and what to avoid in 
seeking them. 
Much of the modern furniture clainring to fulfill these 
ideals is characterized by uncompromising angularity, aggres- 
sively obvious construction, unnecessary weight and size, aird a 
striving for "originality" and "quaintness," and while it maj? 
be simple and honest enotigh, it is in a crude and more primitive 
form than should be accepted as a model by one who wishes his 
work to represent not only his own degree of culture, but that 
of his times. 
Experience and conmion sense are the best guides in de- 
termining the functions of use, which at once cuts out greater 
size and weight than is necessary for strength and proportion, 
as, besides the inconvenience, this would tend rather toward 
weakness than strength by causing greater strain in moving. 
Honesty means sound material, the finish which will best 
preserve it and develop its beauty and true joints of the kind 
best fitted to stand the strain to which they are likely to be sub- 
jected; and while the necessities of such construction must be 
frankly met, the latter need not be necessarily obvious. Keys 
and pegs are good and appropriate in some places, as are some 
other forms of primitiveness where they fill more or less simple 
and primitive uses and conditions, as iti camp or summer 
cottages, or furniture for out-of-doors; but their indiscriminate 
use shows either affectation, poor taste or ignorance of the 
possiliilities of legitimate construction and design. 
There is a fallacy widely cvirrent and particularly pleas- 
ing to those having only some technical knowledge, that if a 
thing is hand-made it must be honest and beautiful. The 
truth is it may be worse than anj^thing turned out bj^ machin- 
ery, for that is limited, but there is no limit to the atrocities the 
hand can commit unless guided by intelligence, honor and taste. 
With these, that which gives hand- work its particular charm and 
value, is the possibility of expressing individuality, freshness 
and variety; of adapting each piece to its particular place and 
purpose, and the pleasure there is in the actual using of the 
hands, with the sense of poise and power it gives. 
We hear very much of the beautj^ of simplicity', but that 
does not mean that all simplicit}^ is beautiful, for a simple de- 
.sign maj^ show as great ignorance and lack of sense and artistic 
feeling as the most complex, useless and ornate. The simpli- 
city which is beautiful and so much to be desired, is that which 
comes from knowledge, intelligent selection and elimination, 
whether it represents primitive directness or culture and refine- 
ment of the highest t^J-pe, and it maj- be delicate or bold, light 
or heavy and curved or straight, as most fittingly meets the 
demands of the given conditions. 
Fine proportion, or the right relation of the height to tlie 
length and width, and of each part to the whole, is an essential 
element of beauty in furniture, for the lack of which nothing 
can compensate. But there is, also, the beauty of fine lines, 
of true workmanship and the finish that is as pleasing to the 
touch as to the eye, with its delightful texture and soft lustre. 
There is the beauty of the wood, with the grain free and bold, 
as in ash and chestnut, of endless variety in the silver rays of 
quartered oak and finer and more subtle in mahogany. There 
is the beaut^^ of color in the warm ivory tones and pale yellows 
of the lighter woods; the golden red or deep wine tones of ma- 
hogany; the fine quiet brown of walnut and fumed oak and 
the soft, restful browns and greens which can be made by stains. 
There are almost endless decorative possibilities in metal 
and leather, while frankly and fuUj^ filling the most utilitarian 
purposes; and turning is a fine old craft which may show, in the 
hands of an artistic craftsman, the same qualities of fine line 
and spacing as any other form of design, and affords a welcome 
change from the prevailing angularity. Flat carving, in low 
relief in very simple and conventional designs — and I cannot 
insist too .strongly that they must be conventional — when used 
with a sensitive feeling of reserve and fitness, offers a legitimate 
and charming means of beautifying even simple furniture. 
But exaggeration and affectation of all kinds must be care- 
fully guarded against, and a striving for something " different " 
or " odd " is almost sure to end disastrous^. The craftsman 
young in the work need not fear being too conservative. He 
will find it far more satisfactory in the end to model his work 
on some good style in harmony with the conditions he has to 
meet, and when he has adapted it to his own particular needs, 
he will usually find he has produced something individual, 
and, better still, appropriate. 
A modest realization of his limitations and a willingness to 
