Building on the success of The Alan Peters Online Furniture Award in 2021, this year a physical event is planned. The first prize sponsor Axminster Tools is hosting the prize-giving ceremony and winners' exhibition at their main Nuneaton store in October 2022 (dates to be confirmed).
As organizer and one of the judges I am grateful for the continued support of The Woodworker and Good Woodworking magazine in promoting this important British award and this year in welcoming English Woodland Timbers Ltd as the 2nd prize sponsor for 2022.
The three prizes are:
1st - Axminster Tools - £1000 voucher
2nd - English Woodlands Timber - £500 voucher
3rd - Judges' cash prize of £500
In 2021 there were 28 entries. When the award was first started in 2010 and hosted by the organizers of the Cheltenham Craftsmanship & Design event (I was one of the three judges) we had on average about 6 entries each year. In an effort to make the award more inclusive with few restrictions it has broadened the uptake without compromising the ideals.
The Alan Peters Furniture Award is open to any woodworker over 18 years of age who is resident citizen of the British Isles, who has a flair and passion for woodworking and design. This generally refers to a piece of interior or exterior furniture.
Last year there were entries from as far afield as The Shetland Isles and I have purposely called it an award for The British Isles to include the excellent reservoir of talent in Ireland. Politics apart the furniture links between England and Ireland are strong as I myself (a Scotsman) taught at the Letterfrack furniture College in Connemara in the 1980s/90s and participated in the 'Create 2006' event in Cork, organized by internationally acclaimed furniture maker Joseph Walsh. This cultural link is long established and important to maintain.
Having known the late Alan Peters and exhibited alongside him over several decades I think it is fair to say he believed in excellence not elitism, a sentiment I have always shared. This is evident in the accessibility of his furniture, seldom made for the very rich. His is a longstanding legacy and two things he said to me in my early career have stuck out (when he reviewed my work for the UK Crafts council Index of Selected makers' in 1980:
'You would do well to visit a museum and study furniture that has survived centries and see how wood behaves'.
'If you can't hide a problem then feature it'.
In my early careeer despite my own traditional cabinetry training at Shoreditch college where Alan also trained as a teacher, I was something of a rebel taking risks with wood. Also my equipment was fairly limited and the massive screws I used to secure the members of my trademark rocking chair I covered with dowels. They looked ugly and Alan suggested doming the dowel heads as indeed he left tenons protruding with domed ends on his furniture, to allow for timber movement.
Alan left a fantastic legacy and it is with great honour I am able to carry the baton on. He encouraged design and innovation and once told me he felt we were too stuck in tradition and that tradition needed moving on. Although in his early work he used mixed materials and some decoration, his later work (after a trip to Japan) evolved into more simple and bold designs where the structure became the main aesthetic and the one thing he is renowned for is his respect for the character of the material and in particular timber movement that makes a piece stand the test of time.
If you are a woodworker reading this and remember you do not have to be a full time professional or a furniture graduate but just demonstrate flair and passion for making and designing, why not apply and don't waste time as the deadline of 31 July is not far away. It doesn't have to be a large piece.
Full details and downloadable application form is on my website and also at www.woodomain.com and the fee is a modest £20 with a maximum of two entries
Here are some application guidelines:
Last year the three winners ranged from seasoned professionals to relative beginners. Some argue you cannot mix professional with amateur work, that there will be an inbalance but I hope I have demonstrated that this is not the case when a piece is judged primarily on its merits - is it functional? Does it have structural integrity? Does it say something new in any way - perhaps about form, function, structure, use of material? Is it pleasing to the eye? Is it well made and durable?
The judges this year are myself, Andrew Lawton (who knew and worked with Alan Peters) and Freya Whamond (who was one of the winners of the original Alan Peters Award for Excellence). Each year we aim to have a guest female judge to give fresh and younger balanced input.
Excellence not elitism makes the best furniture today available and usable and something to hand down.
The point of an award, and albeit a modest award such as this (which reflects the modesty of Alan Peters himself) is to encourage, trigger something new and special, celebrate craftsmanship and design.
And, oh, I almost forgot to mention that the award is predominantly about hand skill but not exclusively. Any professional woodworker knows that machines have to be used for the donkey work such as dressing boards, sawing components, sanding. Even Edward Barnsley who Alan Peters apprenticed to used machines.
Today we have computer controlled woodworking machines and if an applicant for this award uses CNC in a limited and specific operation (eg making drawer handles for a filing cabinet) then we will not have a closed mind. Fellow judge Andrew Lawton and I have discussed at length about the balance and a good example is Thomas Eddoll's hall table which was a runner up in the 2021 award. The table demonstrates advanced hand skill in the dovetailed carcase whilst the undulating 'Cotswold hills' front of the drawer was made using CNC.
At the time Tom revealed that he has to survive in business with a young mouth to feed and that a degree of CNC is necessary to make his work econimically viable. I see this is as a rational justification without sacrificing the important Alan Peters' legacy of hand skill and that actually the question might be asked - could you tell the sculpted drawer front was not made 'by hand'?
As judges we may limit the CNC input to say 15 or 20% of the overall piece and there will have to be a good case for justifying it. As an interesting parallel an antique piece of furniture only needs to have 20% of its original structure to qualify as an antique! Food for thought?
Why not take a look at the 2021 online prize giving ceremony video below:
a 67 page biographical multimedia book is avaliable about Alan Peters@
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