CFA Voysey
Of the generation after Wm. Morris, C.F.A. Voysey was arguably the best designer /
architect, and possibly the most influential. His best work spans the 20 years from
1894-1914.
Voysey was the consumate all-round designer, designing everything from a door
knob to country houses, including wide ranges of metalwork, furniture, wallpaper,
carpets etc. His work displays great clarity of line & unity of design, whatever
the medium.
Voysey's work is still very under-rated, and he is often over-shadowed by his
contemporary, C.R. Mackintosh. However, unlike the latter, Voysey's work is very easy
to live with, and has a sublime understated elegance to it, very suited to our
modern lifestyles.
Today, when we see Voysey furniture it is dark brown in colour, what we think Arts and
Crafts furniture should look like. But this is the result of polishing in past years
and time itself.
However, Voysey specified that his oak furniture be left natural, whence it
would age slowly and naturally. It is only since we have started reproducing
much of his work that it has become apparent just how striking and elegant
his work must have been originally, and why it still looks contemporary.
What goes around comes around, especially in the design world. Since 2001 - 2007
the finish light Oak has possibly been the most popular finish for furniture
& kitchens across Europe. Voysey saw the beauty of this finish at least 100 years
before this.
Voysey also placed great emphasis on good proportions and comfort of use. With
a quaker backgrounds, there is in his best work an almost shaker 'spareness',
to which he added simple elegance; well suited to our 'clean lines' philosophy
of today. This furniture would look great in any interior.
We will continue to add
to our Voysey range for the forseeable future.We have a wide range of original
Voysey designs to draw on, so if you don't see something you want we can
probably still help. Having studied his work for 18 years I could
design something new in his style quite easily. Also, many of the
Voysey house owners are to be thanked
for their help and enthusiasm in our work.
Footnote. Fans of Voysey's work are really an enthusiasts club. Like Arts &
Crafts in general in the UK it is a niche field, much like clients of the originals.
It never achieved the much wider market achieved in the US.
Voysey Home Page
Order Form / Contact Us
