Popular Woodworking 2005-12 № 152, страница 34
Arts & Mysteries The Lost Arts & Mysteries Revealing centuries-old secrets to working quickly and efficiently. Arts & Mysteries is a phrase that oft appears l. in the contracts or indentures between master craftsmen and their apprentice s. Exact usage varies, but the context is usually something like "... the apprentice shall keep secret his Master's Arts & Mysteries ..." or "...the Master shall teach the Arts & Mysteries of his trade____" Nowhere was the phrase ""Arts & Mysteries" ever defined. It may have been a purposely ambiguous "term of art" with a nonspecific intended meaning. A notion of secrecy is usually associated with the phrase. We know little about the state of the art of the craft during the 18 th century. Not a single book was written on the subject in the English language throughout the entirety of the 18th century. Joseph Moxon's late 17th-century text "Mechanick's Exercises" and Peter Nicholson's early 19th-century text "Mechanical Exercises" serve as bookends that imply a wealth of information between them. In that time, the backsaw was invented, and carcase joinery, veneering, inlaying and carving all achieved their zenith. We have and cherish furniture from the period. We see the joinery and marks from the tools used. But extant pieces fail to answer even basic questions such as: Did they saw before they planed? Was the tenon cut before the mortise? And how were drawers fitted? One piece in the Philadelphia Museum of Art has a drawer that perfectly, seemingly intentionally, fits another piece by the same maker. Is this coincidence? Or were drawers made to a template and the carcase made around them? We just don't know. As the 18th century drew to a close, economic forces decreased the influence of the trade guilds. Craftsmen worked more and Adam Cherubini in his workshop in New Jersey. In addition to exploring 18th-century woodworking techniques at home, Adam volunteers in the joiners' shop at Pennsbury Manor (pennsburymanor.org). more for price-conscious lower-class buyers. Factories emerged, and unskilled laborers were increasingly employed. The guilds' centuries-old oral tradition ended, and the Arts & Mysteries slipped into the abyss. by Adam Cherubini Adam makes reproduction furniture using the tools and techniques of the 18th century. He was included in Early American Life magazine's 2005 directory of the top 200 traditional craftsmen in America. See www.EALonline.com You can contact Adam at adam.cherubini@verizon.net. Why Should We Care? At this point you may be wondering why modern woodworkers should care about the techniques woodworkers employed two centuries ago. A brief review of period account books seems to indicate that 18th-century craftsmen did what we cannot. They worked accurately and quickly using simple, sometimes crude tools. A small chest of drawers might have taken as little as a week to complete. The largest secretary or highboy might have been three or four weeks' work. Craftsmen 32 Popular Woodworking December 2005 |
