Mortise & Tenon Magazine, Issue 11

edited by Joshua A. Klein

This biannual publication celebrates the preservation, research and restoration of historic furniture. Its multi-disciplinary approach brings together the perspectives of furniture makers, conservators and scholars to span woodworking past and present, with focus on pre-industrial tools and methods.

In this issue, Michael Updegraff delves into the Foxfire project, which began as a 1960s high school project and evolved into a widely known book series about the culture and craft traditions of the southern Appalachian Mountains. Nevan Carling restores an 18th-century loom, and Gustave Rémon examines the design of a medieval socket axe.

Jeremy Tritchler recounts his experiences serving as an 18th-century cabinetmaker’s apprentice at Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia. Hunter S. Rhodes highlights the life and work of enslaved 19th-century artisan Richard Poynor, who attained his freedom and became a successful chairmaker in his own right.

Elia Bizzarri reveals processes used by early 19th-century makers to quickly produce “Fancy chair” adaptations of the Windsor chair, and Joshua Klein looks at batch production of furniture common in pre-industrial workshops. Mike Epworth explains how the differing approaches of two historic chairmakers, Jimmy Possum and George Peddle, led to divergent paths for the future of their craft.

Also included is an examination of an early 19th-century chest of drawers, and Ray Deftereos’ review of John Ruskin’s Unto This Last (1862).

More like a book than a typical magazine, it is printed on heavy stock paper and richly illustrated with color photos. Sold as a single issue, not a subscription.

Softcover, 144 pages, 2021.