LIZANNE ARM AND SIDE CHAIR
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HOME CHAIRS STOOLS CASES TABLES AWARDS AND SHOWS CONTACT ABOUT THE ARTIST 151 Walton Mill Road Cornville, Maine 04976 207 313 7754 peter@peterthompsonfurniture.com |
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| Named
after his wife, Elizabeth Anne, the Lizanne is the second chair Peter
has designed and built out of his small cabinet shop in Cornville. With
this new chair Peter has gone with a higher back to add a nice contrast
to his shorter Walton chairs. This gives a customer the choice of a
high or low back Thompson handcrafted chair. The Walton crest height is
33 and 3/4 inches whereas the Lizanne is 38 and a 1/4 inches high in
the center and 39 and 7/8 inches high on the sides. The back legs of
the Lizanne are cut and shaped from hardwood boards that are four
inches thick and seven inches wide. Peter designed the compound curve
of the back legs to take full advantage of the material without having
to laminate or steam bend the wood to achieve the desired effect. Wood
grain is carefully examined so that it follows the drastic curve of the
leg eliminating, as much as possible, areas of short grain. Due to the
large hardwood dimensions needed for the shaping of the back legs, and
the grain pattern of the board being so important for its strength,
there are limits to what wood species can be selected for a Lizanne.
Peter primarily uses Black Walnut or Cherry for the chair, though the
seat can be carved from most any wood species a customer desires. At
the 2006 Fine Furnishings Show in Providence Peter was introduced to
the concept of mismatched dining room chair sets by a few of the
visitors to his booth. The Lizanne gives a potential customer the
opportunity to go with the same chair but individualize each place at
the dining room table with a different species of wood for the seat if
so desired. Peter’s first job after graduating from college was working for the Federal Atlantic salmon restoration program in the state of Maine. When designing the back support of the Lizanne Peter leaned heavily on the lines found around a fish’s caudal fin (tail fin). Something, over the years, Peter became very familiar with! The chair’s uncluttered, simple lines which flow from the feet to the curved crest makes the Lizanne a chair that moves in space. The design of this chair makes the space in-between the wood as important as the shape of the wood itself. Coming off the seat the back support curves towards the front of the chair as the back legs twist back and out toward the sides. This effect produces excellent lower lumbar support and at the same time cradles the shoulders comfortably in the crest and upper areas of the chair. When designing a wood chair Peter works in three critical aspects that end up being intertwined with each other. These are first, an appealing shape, flow and lines; second, strength of construction; and third, comfort. The process begins with sketches on a piece of paper . It is on paper where appealing shapes, curves and proportions from Peter’s “life experience” start to metamorphous into a future piece of functional art. As a prototype is built in the shop it is checked structurally for strength as it has to be able to last a lifetime of use ....and is later guaranteed for one! The last piece of the puzzle is designing in comfort. Peter finds it an added challenge in the day of padded dining room chairs to produce a comfortable hand carved wood chair. The Lizanne is a chair that will entice you to stay seated when the food and stimulating conversation keep you and your guests lingering around the dinning room table before moving towards the comfort of the living room. These chairs will not cause you to hurry this enjoyable “end of a meal” process. Attractive, strong and comfortable the Lizanne meets all of Peter’s requirements! |
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