Williamsburg Snapshot – Make A Chair From A Book

Anthony Hay cabinet shop journeyman Bill Pavlak bit off the challenge of making a chair illustrated in Chippendale’s Director.  Given the vagaries of historic images when compared to the structure of chairs, it was indeed something to wrestle with.

Bill engaged in one of the most innovative didactic exercises I’ve seen as he walked us through the evolution of the Chippendale chair by fabricating a display form on which he could attach full scale depictions for each of the major evolutionary steps in the design heritage.  I found this to be a brilliant approach that should be employed everywhere for anyone interested in the subject.

Since much of the character of the chair is contained in the carvings, that is where Bill spent his time.

I must admit that I missed some of Bill’s presentation as I was 1) talking to someone out in the vestibule about some SAPFM bidnez, and 2) snuck out to go with my wife and some friends to an organ recital at the nearby Wren Chapel on the campus of the College of William and Mary.  Sorry Bill, no disrespect intended.