Monday, March 28, 2011

Going to Germany

I will be going with my BF to Germany in May. He is going for work, so we'll be in Erlangen for the week and I will be at my leisure during the weekdays while he is working. Any suggestions for things to see for the medievally-minded tourist?

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Thinking about Spanish style furniture



I have a house whose architectural style is called "Spanish Eclectic", and this house needs furniture that fits it. A while back in the library I found a pamphlet published by the New Mexico Department of Vocational Education in 1933 called "Spanish Colonial Furniture Bulletin", a book of line drawings of extant furniture from the Spanish Colonial era. In the brief text the pamphlet states that New Mexico was settled by colonists early in the period (end of 16th century) and had minimal contact with outside influences after colonization, due to the discovery of limited exploitable resources. Thus, much of the furniture design is influenced by Spanish medieval and Renaissance design.

Note the mortise and tenon joinery and the spline that joins the boards that make up the seat of the chair on the right.

This will be one of the sources for designs for the dining table and chairs I eventually plan to build and which are just in the earliest design phase.



Another example of something Spanish I like is this table from either the 16th or 17th century, I'm not sure and the book (Great Styles of Furniture) isn't very informative either.