Edward Barnsley’s Workshop c.1936.
Classical pianists like to trace their lineage through generations of teachers back to the Russian Masters. The art of furniture making spans centuries, and furniture makers can do something similar:
Andy Messenger was taught the basic skills of fine furniture joinery over 30 years ago by British master designer/maker David Powell (1926-2001), the founder of Leeds Design Workshops and a maker of furniture for Queen Elizabeth II. Powell, in turn, had served a traditional apprenticeship, followed by 4 years as an employee, in the Cotswolds studio of the great Edward Barnsley (1900-1987), considered the "Grand Old Man" of British Arts and Crafts furniture making of the 20th century. During Powell's apprenticeship, the studio still lacked electricity! Edward Barnsley was the son of Sidney Barnsley (1865-1926), who with his brother Ernest were two of the leading figureheads of the Arts and Crafts movement that began in the second half of the 19th century.
David Powell came by his love of crafts honestly, as he was also the son of Roger Powell (OBE) (1896-1990), the preeminent English bookbinder of his day.
The Workshop at Pinbury shared by Ernest and Sidney Barnsley and Ernest Gimson c.1895.
A young apprentice at Leeds in the Spring of 1983...