Cabinetmaker
A highly skilled joiner who works with fine woods and veneer, builds case furniture and is responsible for precise joints and a quality finish.
Makers
People and makers
Even a simple chair passes through several pairs of hands. One person conceives the form, another assembles the frame, a third carves the ornament or stretches the upholstery, and years later a conservator and a curator look after the piece. This section is about roles and crafts; the only individuals we name are those who appear in our timeline.
A good joint is invisible from the outside. A joiner's skill is often recognized only when, many years later, the chair still does not wobble.
How this section works: we describe the crafts and responsibilities found in almost any history of furniture, and we do not write about contemporary designers, workshops or factories.
Who makes furniture
Seven roles, from the first sketch to the museum display case.
Carver
Creates ornament in high and low relief: leaves, shells, masks, scrolls. The carver's hand decides whether the decoration comes alive or remains a dry copy of a pattern.
Upholsterer
Responsible for the soft parts of furniture: webbing, springs, stuffing, fabric or leather, tufting and edge finishing. Good upholstery holds its shape for years and does not hide the lines of the frame.
Classic sofa (in Russian)
Marquetry maker
Assembles patterns and entire pictures from thin sheets of veneer in different woods, sometimes adding mother-of-pearl, bone or metal. Of all the furniture crafts, this is perhaps the closest to painting.
Designer
Conceives the object as a whole, thinking both about beauty and about how it will be made, shipped and used. This role has been especially visible since furniture began to be produced in series.
Minimalism (in Russian)
Conservator
Preserves an old piece while intervening as little as possible: strengthens joints, carefully fills losses and does not erase the traces of history. Call one if joints have loosened, veneer is lifting or there are signs of woodworm.
Museum curator
Oversees storage conditions, researches the provenance of an object and decides how to show it to visitors without putting it at risk.
Names in the timeline
- Thomas Chippendale, a cabinetmaker who in 1754 published the pattern book of furniture designs "The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker's Director."
- Michael Thonet, whose workshop produced the bentwood chair No. 14 in 1859; it was shipped disassembled and assembled with screws.
- Walter Gropius, who founded the Bauhaus school in Weimar in 1919.
- We deliberately name no one else: this guide is about crafts and styles, not lists of celebrities.
Read next
- Close looks
A step-by-step way to examine a piece of furniture, plus a table of its main elements.
- Events
The kinds of events devoted to furniture and interiors, and how to prepare for a museum or historic house tour.
- Classic sofa (in Russian)
A note at an old catalogue address: how the bench and the daybed became the sofa, and how classic forms differ.
Sources
- Reference works on the history of furniture and the decorative arts
- Museum catalogues and guides to furniture collections
Historical information is drawn from reference literature on the history of furniture and the decorative arts. Opening hours and visiting rules at museums, historic houses and workshops change, so please confirm them with each venue.