Project Highlights
Frank Smith dining chair 108
The awakening of a hibernating chair
The story of this chair goes back to the early 1980’s. Originally commissioned by a client in False Creek, who went by the Pip — a charming nickname for a woman of small stature. She had a refined appreciation for fine craft and original design so she naturally sought out a local designer/maker to produce dining room furniture for her new townhouse. Being a great patron of the crafts she allowed the craftsperson (myself) a great deal of latitude with respect to the design and detailing. Her only specific requirement was that the chairs needed a horizontal rung between the front legs on which she could rest her feet that would normally not touch the floor. And, of course, the chair needed be comfortable over an extended period of time — "say, long enough to write a letter." I proposed the Pip chair in white oak.
The commission was a great success for both of us and the Pip chair became part of my repertoire, with the subsequent simplification of the design to single stretchers at the sides and the removal of the horizontal "foot rung" at the front. Because of the design's comfort for men and women regardless of size, a number of collectors commissioned sets of the chair in various woods. Until eventually, a disparity developed between the price I could ask and the hand labour required to produce them. The Pip chair went into hibernation.
Then in 2002, I had a request for a proposal from couple in Dunbar for a dining set for their newly constructed home. I brought a sampling of four chairs from those I have designed to their home. And the one they fell in love with, was the Pip chair. Their only concern was that it was a little small for the scale of the table they required, and for the size of the dining room.
Since the 1980’s new tools have become available to the furniture designer/maker including 3d modeling software and computer controlled routers. I jumped at the chance to bring the Pip chair out of hibernation, to scale it up and assign some of the grunt work to modern technology. I increased the back height by six inches, the seat width and depth by about two inches. The task of roughing out the solid wood seat, I assigned to the computers and machines. (All the joinery and finishing work is still done by hand). Walnut was chosen for the chairs and the base of the table, with reclaimed fir for the top.
Our Frank Smith Collection gained not just one new member in the 108 chair but two with the awakening of the original Pip chair, a slightly scaled down cousin great for smaller spaces and equally comfortable. The seating comfort is supplied by the chairs ergonomic profile and its ability to support the human frame, big or small.
