A Rare Visit to the Founders of the Studio Furniture Movement
Wharton Harris Esherick is the acknowledged founder of the early 20th century Studio Furniture Movement, and Esherick, Sam Maloof (of California) and George Nakashima are referred to as the movement's first generation. All three possessed a reverence for beautiful woods and for accentuating visible construction techniques. They pioneered their crafts in their individual studios and procured their own clients, as well. They conceived their pieces as complete works of art taking precise execution from conception to finished product issuing in this modernist furnishings era.
The DG Group was off then to both New Jersey and Pennsylvania on a trek to discover firsthand the actual studios of two of these first-generation icons. The tour, expertly conceived and conducted by DG founder Louise Devenish, saw the group arriving first to visit the studio of George Nakashima situated on six acres of woodland in New Hope, New Jersey. Upon arrival, all were greeted by none other than the master craftsman's own daughter Mira Nakashima, herself a noted furniture designer who spent years working alongside her immanent father in his studio. Who better to give visitors a rich and thorough account of the father's legendary life and work. Mira told of her father's early wanderings that began deep in the forests of Washington State then on to some of the most beautiful natural terrains America has to offer. His extensive travels, they were told, likewise exposed him to the best in traditional and avant-garde art and architecture of his time. All lead Nakashima to eventually discover moral, spiritual and aesthetic truths which would sustain him and his work throughout his extensive career.
Following this vivid experience, the group then headed south into Pennsylvania and to the Cedar Hollow Inn in Malvern for lunch. The restaurant, a rambling early-20th century clapboard structure, has wide-planked floors and wall-to-wall-paned windows welcoming in the brightest of light. There, fine dining was promptly served and all enjoyed a lively conversation on what they had partaken in that morning.
After lunch, the entourage made its way back from Malvern close to the state line to the Wharton Harris Esherick House resting appropriately among a forest of soaring trees on a thick, virgin landscape. Designed by Esherick himself of natural-hued woods and faux-clay plaster, the structure reflects well the earthiness of the designer's own eclectic tastes. Within its confines of the residence, the group discovered the very studio where Esherick spent the last thirty years of his life designing, carving and polishing his renowned pieces. An enthusiast of writer Henry David Thoreau, Esherick had early on found his calling in nature and his works throughout his career carried through with this raw, natural purity.
No three designers of interior furnishings influenced more the development of modernist American craftsmanship than Wharton Esherick, George Nakashima and Sam Maloof. The group's visit to the first two's well-preserved workshop environments not only enthralled but enlightened all to the importance of the founders of this early 20th century movement. One can only imagine what Devenish will come up with next for the group.
Claude Brickell