Response By
Chris McKaskell
Henry Coombs Parlour Rocking Chair, about 1870
wood and fabric Gift of Evelyn Martin, 1994Response
The Humble Chair. Is it more than a place to sit? Sometimes a record of past practices, yet handmade chair making techniques are still mostly unchanged in terms of basic skills and intention: we curve, shape, join, veneer, carve, finish and upholster wood, but chairmaking is rarer now. Economics might say why, but surely it has to do with desire. A handmade chair is an expensive luxury, or a cherished gift from a week’s labour, then or now. Valued? Yes.
Chris McKaskell is a co-founder of McKaskell Haindl Design Build Inc and the Custom Shop Manager at Cardinal Fine Cabinetry in London. His expertise includes traditional ornamental wood carving, historical restoration, tracker action pipe organs, furniture and hat blocks for millinery. Chris worked as a carpenter in Toronto while earning his degree in art history and physical geography.