Almost every woodworker

has the skills to build the most comfortable chair in the house.

Morri

i

C H A

don't care what they say about dogs, Morris chairs are a man's best friend. The reclining back, wide arms and expansive seat create the perfect place to watch TV, read the Sunday paper or simply contemplate the finer qualities of a well-crafted beer.

For the last 10 years, I've spent every weekend planted in the original version of this chair, which was built by the Shop of the Crafters in Cincinnati, Ohio, during the heyday of the Arts & Crafts movement. The Shop of the Crafters was founded by German-American businessman Oscar Onken (1858-1948), who ran a successful framing company until he entered the furniture business in 1902, according to Kenneth R. Trapp's history of the company.

Unlike many furniture-makers of the day, Onken didn't want to merely copy the Stickleys of the world. Onken produced an unusual line of Arts & Crafts furniture that was influenced more by German and Hungarian designs than the straight-lined Stickley pieces of the day. In all honesty, a few of Onken's pieces were kind of ugly. Most, however, had a refinement and lightness that rivaled some of the best work of the day.

This Morris chair is an almost exact replica of the one produced by

by Christopher Schwarz

10 Popular Woodworking June 2000