Peter Guyett
Index - click on the name to go to the piece.
Mackintosh Desk Chairs
Gordon Russell Dining Chair
Eighteenth Century Hall Chair
Mackintosh Low Back Chairs
Bathroom Cabinet
Alan Peters Bookcase
Kitchen Dresser
Kitchen Waste Bin
Charles Rennie Mackintosh Desk Chair.
Background - This was designed by Mackintosh, and two made, in 1904, one subsequently acquired by Glasgow Art Galleries and Museums and the other purchased for a private collection in New York. By the 1980s, copies were being made for sale in Europe and UK, primarily as dining chairs. They were favoured by my daughter, and I agreed to make six for her.
Peter's interpretation - This was my first major task after retirement, and in many respects shaped my future course as a cabinetmaker. I began by developing a jig to produce the small tenons for the ends of the cross pieces in the ladder-backs and fronts. I termed this end-routing, and the jig could handle all types of tenons for most chairs. With its aid the many cross pieces (totaling some 200, each with two tenons) could be cut accurately and quickly. The technique was later used on the far more versatile Trend and Leigh mortise and tenon jigs.
I next learned a valuable lesson. After I had made a starter batch of chairs, I found that, in common with some commercial makers, I had selected the wrong interpretation of the very carefully produced - but, two-view only - drawings in a book on Mackintosh chairs. I then visited Glasgow and, by arrangement with the curator, measured their original chair. In consequence I, and the main UK maker, made the required corrections to our further batches, including one for our home (not stained). As very few classic chairs had any useful published drawings as a guide to makers, the conclusion was that detailed measurements were advisable; and was invariably permitted by museum curators.
But perhaps the more significant conclusion from that detour was the knowledge I gained of the qualities of Charles Rennie Mackintosh as a furniture designer (as well as architect), which consolidated my enthusiasm for modern-style work.
Made to extend some friends’ seating from six to eight, making chairs no longer available from the original source. Measuring an example was, of course, straightforward in this case.
Again made for friends, who were seeking an interesting telephone chair. Measured from the original in the Hall of the Worshipful Company of Fishmongers. The coat of arms is that of my friends’ Scottish Clan, permission to incorporate it having been given by the Clan Chief.
Charles Rennie Mackintosh Low-Backed Chair
Two made in 1904, one of them now owned by the Musee D’Orsay, Paris, where I measured it.
I made four, one for use at a dressing table, the other three in our re-styled kitchen. For the latter application, I modified the ladder arrangement at the front to allow greater leg movement.
Bathroom Cabinet with Mackintosh features
Another liberty. Many of Mackintosh’s pieces comprise a series of what have become iconic images, assembled with the flair and imagination that distinguishes his work. For this cabinet I incorporated the coloured glass inlay design at the centre top, together with linking shaped strip down to the front of the lower shelf, all copies, to which is added a typical array of squares.
It’s finished in appropriate matt white paint. I made the knife hinges in brass, but had them chromium plated to more closely match the knobs.
The late Alan Peters’ book on Cabinetmaking shows his ‘Chinese/gothic table’ with a leg structure and mitred jointing that especially appealed to me. I used it on the sides of this bookcase (and it received Alan’s approval). A copy of the table is in the 20th century collection of the V&A. At the time, it was in store, but by arrangement I was taken to see it at a location some distance from the Museum.
A kitchen dresser to celebrate the Millennium
This is part of our re-styled kitchen. I chose to make this with prominent rounded vertical members, a gently curved front, coopered doors in the base, and two cabinets in the top section. Above it all is a broad sweeping and inclined facing on which I carved Mary & Peter and the Millennium date.at each side. The curves and solid oak construction, with a clear finish, served as a contrast to the predominantly flat faces of the rest of the cabinets in the kitchen, which were painted. The four tiles depicting cheerful, quirky birds are reproductions of tiles designed by Philip Webb, a close collaborator of William Morris. All the turning (of finials and
knobs) was by one-time Fellowship member Bob French.
Also a piece for the kitchen. The obelisk shape is faced with 3/8 inch plywood, chamfered at the mating edges and glued with epoxy.
Working out the angles of the mitred edges is not straightforward. A table of angles was given in the Woodworker under the title ‘ The Mystery of the Pyramids’.