Eric The Viking
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I mean John Hooper OBE, and his son Rodney (who in 1954 was MSIA)?
So... we had a lovely two days in Dartmouth this week. Whilst there, I scored two excellent hits for the woodworking library:
#1: Sam Maloof's autobiography from 1983 ("Woodworker", lavish, full-colour coffee table size, with drawings and beautiful and detailed photography). Ghost-written (I think) by Jonathan Fairbanks, then of the Museum Of Fine Arts, Boston, and an early champion of Maloof's work. It wasn't an absolute bargain, but in very good condition and well worth the £20 I paid for it (still has the dust jacket!). In fact there are several excellent bookshops in Dartmouth still, which is extraordinary and brilliant.
In the National Trust s/h bookshop at Greenways, Agatha Christie's holiday estate, I really scored though:
#2: "Modern Furniture And Fittings" by Messrs. Hooper, hardback, 2nd ed. 1955. It has diagrams, depressingly wonderful photographs of the finest work, fold-out plans, and excellent descriptions. It's half way between a text book and a brochure of the best British craftsmanship of the immediate pre- and post-war years.
You might imagine the British Council sponsoring it, but there's no mention of anything like that. The preface talks about post-war reconstruction demanding new furniture and fitting-out of public buildings. Sadly, the authors underestimated the effects of post-war public debt, too, so the grand reconstructions never happened in the main, and I suspect the skilled craftsmen who were around at the time rarely had the chance again to do the finest work that's illustrated.
Also mentioned is Percy A. Wells, who earlier co-authored "Modern Cabinet Work" with Hooper Sr.
I am very ignorant of the craftsmen of this period, so I wondered if anyone more learned could shed a little light on who these folks were...
E.
PS: it was a whole £2.50! I picked up an excellent autobiography last autumn from a different NT bookshop, so they're now an obligatory part of any NT visit. That's definitely two-for-two: smug is a quite inadequate description in context!
So... we had a lovely two days in Dartmouth this week. Whilst there, I scored two excellent hits for the woodworking library:
#1: Sam Maloof's autobiography from 1983 ("Woodworker", lavish, full-colour coffee table size, with drawings and beautiful and detailed photography). Ghost-written (I think) by Jonathan Fairbanks, then of the Museum Of Fine Arts, Boston, and an early champion of Maloof's work. It wasn't an absolute bargain, but in very good condition and well worth the £20 I paid for it (still has the dust jacket!). In fact there are several excellent bookshops in Dartmouth still, which is extraordinary and brilliant.
In the National Trust s/h bookshop at Greenways, Agatha Christie's holiday estate, I really scored though:
#2: "Modern Furniture And Fittings" by Messrs. Hooper, hardback, 2nd ed. 1955. It has diagrams, depressingly wonderful photographs of the finest work, fold-out plans, and excellent descriptions. It's half way between a text book and a brochure of the best British craftsmanship of the immediate pre- and post-war years.
You might imagine the British Council sponsoring it, but there's no mention of anything like that. The preface talks about post-war reconstruction demanding new furniture and fitting-out of public buildings. Sadly, the authors underestimated the effects of post-war public debt, too, so the grand reconstructions never happened in the main, and I suspect the skilled craftsmen who were around at the time rarely had the chance again to do the finest work that's illustrated.
Also mentioned is Percy A. Wells, who earlier co-authored "Modern Cabinet Work" with Hooper Sr.
I am very ignorant of the craftsmen of this period, so I wondered if anyone more learned could shed a little light on who these folks were...
E.
PS: it was a whole £2.50! I picked up an excellent autobiography last autumn from a different NT bookshop, so they're now an obligatory part of any NT visit. That's definitely two-for-two: smug is a quite inadequate description in context!
