he c \.pre<, ion H I d \Vo rId ~ raft )n1an hip, i u ppo')ed to

e v o k c i 111 a g e o f 111 c t i ul o u ) , \nO\\')' haired old craftsn1cn n1,1king unbelie' ablv fine furniture in little

I

'' o r k \hops ') e t u p ~ 11::

an1ong the toad)tool ~ ;)

and gnarled root of ~ t h c B I ,1 c k I o r e <, t. I t g

>-111tlkC') \Orne people ~ go \Varn1 all O\ cr ju t 8 to think of all thc)e ~

::: good - hearted c..

; e p p c los '' or k i n g • tnvay on n1,1stcrpa~ c.e

over there in the ld \ 7orld, but ba ic.,11lv,

I

the phra)C l) a brain­les') banality that triviali1ec, the idea of fine 'v or k 111 an) h i p. I t doec,n,t tc,lch us ho'

to distingui h

bet'' c en fi n e a n d rned ioc rc \Vorkn1an­\hrp, it ju\t pour\ S\rup over e\ery­thing.

It Wtl) the great contribution of the I a t c B r i t i ) h \V r i t e r and c.ra ft )f11an David P\ e to ha\ e on ­\l rue ted ,1 lc,lr and un \en tin1cn ta I defi­

nition of '''orkn1, nshtp that help\ U\

u n d c r \ t ,1 n d h o ',, to j u d g e 1 t \ qua I i t i e \. l I i\ definition i\ bc1 cd not on w hcther a thing h,lppcn\ to be n1adc by n1a<..h1ne or 111adc bv hand (a distinction \Vht<..h

I

he thought \\·a c, poi n tiC)\ and futile) but

•

•

B Y , L r . :\ ; 0 R 1)

instead on the chance that C\.i)t , \\ rk­ing on that thing fron1 one n10111ent t

the ne\.t, to \c.re\\ it up, no n1atter \vhat the tooling. In c.on)truc.ting hi) defini­tion, P\e coined ,1 p,llr of phrase) \\'hich

ye in hi _hop: cc 1at rial in the ~a1rv is nothing 1nuch. Only 1vork d rnaterial has quality

and piec _ of tvork d nzaterial ar tnad to sholv th ir quality by 111 n, or put togetlz r so that to th r they shOH' a quality "'hich sin ly they had not."

•

brilliantly differentiate the pr e \ec, of n1aking thin g): obje tc, are n1ade cit her b} " the \Vorkn1an)hip of ri k, or " the \\Orkn1an~hip of certainty.,

Pye, ' h died in 1993 at the age f 4, \Va an ar hi te t,

a ' d\v rker, and an indu trial design­er, and f o r n1 a n y year Profe r of rurniture De ign at the R yal 11 ge f

rt in L nd n.

great categorizer and definer f tern1 , he \Va a tickler for the c rre t u e of lan ­guage, \Vhi h in it elf \: a enough t dis tingui h hin1 in the \V rid of art the ry and riti i n1, a field o v e r r u n by C) o 111 c eri u ga bag<,. I-Ii

in i ten e n intel ­lectual pre i ion helped rai e the le\el of thought ab ut \V h a t con t i t u t e C)

g d \V rkn1anship and de ign b y nd th u ual 1 i he , to the p int \vhere the

di<) u <)ion <..ould ha\e on1 bite. P \ c \' r o t c a p ,1 i r o f b o o k. ~ i n t h c

l 9 6 0\ 'v hi c. h h a' c h ,1 d a p '\ e r f u I in 0 u enc.c on n1any people \\Orking in the <..raft'> and in indu trial de ign, c pcltdl ­

lv tho)C \vho \Vork 'vith '' d. I he t\VO book\, '/he 1 aturc and rt of

~VOOD~VORK DECEMBER 1996 53

LIJ en -

\Vorknuuz~hip and T'he .\.ature and ;\esthetic~ of I e~ign, ha\e recently been rei'-1'-IUCd b\ a publi'-lhing cotnpdnv \Vith the ingeniou'> nan1e of the Can1biun1 Pre'>~ a ne\v independent publi'-lhing hou'>e establi hcd b\ John Kel'>C\, the . .

original editor of Fine \Voocilvorking. Both book<., c t111 in to que<., t ion a I o t of the old and <.,hOp\vorn a<.,<.,Un1ption'-~ of b o t h t r t1 d i t i o n a 1 i '-~ t '-~ a n d 111 o d e r n i ~ t '-~ t1hout \Vhat dc<.,ign and \\'Orkn1an'-lhip rct1llv on<.,i<.,t of. ()n the one hand, P\ c

I I

~\ '-ltcnultic,1llv debunk'-~ cornv and no~ · I I

talgic notion~ of "old tin1c cr,1ft~n1an ­

s h i p,,; on t h c o t h c r, he l c t ~ ,111 the a i r out of a rnodcrni'>t ~logan fe\v of ll'> e\cr bother to que'-ltion the idea that " forn1 foliO\\'> function n (Pvc pro\e'> that it doc<.,n' t, not necC'>'>arily). 1\long

54 ~VOOD~VORK DECEMBER 1996

he s1nootlzing plane 111as 1nade by ]i111 Krenov out of a chunk of l·vood full of 11u1nerous s1nall

knots given to hi111 by one of his students \1'ho told hinz it 1-vas ''\1enezu fan box­lvood." 1,he 11'ork1nan ~hip is free in so111 of the areas 111/zere the lzand grasps the tool, but highly regulated in others at the throat opening, the fiat b d forth iron, and th flat sole. T'he plane body xhibit 1vhat Py nzeant by "diversity":

the block is stnooth and flat in places tvlzere it n eds to be but he1vn into facets and corrugated 11'ith band sa11' tnarks tvhere tho e textures actually 111ak 111ore sense. onstructed largely by the l1'0rk­n1an hip of risk, the plane u'a 111ade for the express purpo of further a ts of 11'0rktnanship of risk.

the \vav, he al<,o rnock<., <.,On1c of the I

O'>tcntatiou'> pictie<., of the utruth-to-111tltcrial)l '-lchool of craft, a group \vhich in hi'-~ 1nind n1ight haYe included '>Uch crafhn1cn tl'> C~eorge . ·t1ka'>hirna, \VhO'>C \Vork he n1ay actually ha\e t1dn1ired, but \ v h o <., e d r u i d i c ,11 v a p o r i n g a b o u t reI i -g i 0 l1 <., C 0 111 n1U 11 i 0 n \Vi t h the <., 0 td <., 0 f

t rce'> he \\'Otild ha\ e ridiculed. 1\ n i co n o c I a<., t \vi t h I i tt 1 c p a t i c n c e for

n1u d dIed thinking or '-~ c n t i 111 c n t a I i t y about c r ,1ft, Pyc could be a '-lcou rge of the dull-\\' itted and the inane, but he \vrotc out of an abiding concern for the <.,urvival of the tradition of doing thing~ '-lkillfullv \\' ith vour O\Vn t\VO hatH.i'>. Hi'>

I I

\Vriting i'> son1etin1c<, a little overblo\vn a n d u n n e c e s a r i 1 y ,1 b '> t r u '> e ( o c c u p a · tional ha1ards for a critic ), but at it'-1

best, it has the hardnc',~ and laritv of a I

dian1ond, and an be trcrnendously illun1inating. ;\ftcr n:l1ding Pye spt: ­ciall 7 his book on \\'Orkrnl nship­\\700<hvorkt:rS \vill feel surer not only of t h t: i r h l n cL b u t o f t h c i r f o o t i n g i n a '''odd that (oldh <.:On',igns so nlulh of the dcepc~t i1npul~e to n1ake things to t h e 1 n a r g i n s o f l o n1 p u t e r-d r i v e n I i f t: . Py ,·s looks lcgititnizc that irnpulse, and

Jnanage to do it '''ithout di'-t',Olving into puddlt:s of no "talgia for the "good old d,v .. . ,

I

1\t dif~ rent stage~ of the proc 'ss of b u i I d i n g a n y t h j n g, a r a ft s 111 a n goes ba k and forth bct,,een the \Vorktnan­ship of risk and the \Vorktnanship of lertainty. In tnaking dra\\Cr parts, for exarnple, you ~tart b\ surfa ing thc sto k to thilkne\\. 'The planer, s t to give a con~i'-ttcnt thilkness, exetnplifies th \Vorktnanship of lCrtainty. N xt, ripping this stolk on the tablt: Sa\\', th fi · d d is tan e o f t he fence fro 111 t h ' blade gul ran tees the out on1e, i.e., boards of con~i'-ttent \Vidth, also tht: r 'suit of an operation based on th '''orkinanship of <.:crtainty, though here there is son1e ri\k involved the stolk has to be kept l ress 'd against the fen e. n e the \ ,, o o ch v o r k c r ,. t a r t "-

utting the dovt:tails) ho\veve r, he enters the rea I 111 of t h c \VO r k 111 an"- hip of unalloved ri',k, \Vith

I

nothing to go on no\v but skill alone. ·r h t: ',,hole d nn' e r i ,. , t risk one slip of th sa\v an ruin it.

\V r i t i n g by h a n d \Vith a pen or a bru'-th is pt:rhaps the purest

fonn of the \Vorkn1anship of ri"-k (one 0 f 0 n }y t \\' 0 pu l'C fo l'lllS 0 f it, <llLO rdi ng to Pye the.:: other is ._ e\ving by hand \Vith needle and thread). \Vriting '''ith a tvpc:\vritcr or usino a stt:Il il ar inter -' " " "

n1t:d ia tc kinds of \\'Orktna nsh i p both are jigged or tetnplated operation .. offt:ring a degrt:e of Lertainty as to the look of the result, but the\ still invohc son1e r i "-k ... you an strike the \\' 1'0 ng key or , 111 car l h c stencil. Printed on the nHH.i~rn printing press, the "\vriting of

iii on bronz , ke~,v d iron right­angle ed e- trinunin~ plane a revival of th tan ley o. 95. ast,

1nil/ d, tapped, lapp d, and polisl1 d by K ;,71 \ 'isner. reat div rsity of te.:ttu~ s: in diffi rent pia s, the bronz is poli hed, 1nilled, lapp d, left roughly sand-cast or patinated 1vith tveat and gri111 .

v rail, th plan i 1nanujactur d usin th 1vork1nan. hip of certairzt)'. The _iR­nature of the 111aker; ho~11ever, i ngraved by hand. \ 'ritin being on

of the purest fonns of th li'Orknzanship of risk, th signatur , ironically, individuate ~vhat i other1vi. e a nlass­produced object.

the '''ord~ i"- l1uton1l1ted con1pletelv out of t h <.: c r a ft \ n1 a n, ,. h a n d ~ t h e \"or k­

tnanship of t.crtainty. Be"- ide', defining \VO r k 111 an .. hip in

tcnns of the ri'-tk or lertaintv of the out-,

con1e of d iffercn t operation , P\ e ,1lso propo'-tcd a \vay of de~t.ribi11g the Lhar­alteri',til"- of the~e operation', along a ~peltrun1 running fron1 "free-" to '\cg­ulllted-', \Vorkn1an\hip .. plitting out the oak for a green laddcrback <.:hair is free \vorknHln~h ip. \Vhi ttling on the porlh or adzing a \Vind'-tor chair ~cat are al ' O

pretty frct:, but \lightly regulated, too, be lll u ~ e p o k e t k n i \ c "- an d ad 1 e "- a r self-jigging onle the\ ~tart their lUts (as a r <:: 111 o ', t e d g e d h a n d to o l s ) .

l1nprovi 'ationally carving in the round is fa i r I y free, b u t l a r vi n g the p ,1 r t "- of a

ueen 1\nne chair by hand i~ ,1 highly regulated or clo\el} controlled kind of

\Vork very 1110\e lritical and ontin-,

gent on the \Vork111anship of risk. T·he san1e job done on a dupliLating arver is, if anything, c\Cn n1orc regulated, but here, the job i') done U')ing the \\'ork­Inal1ship of t.ertainty {to the e\.tent that the layout con'-ti'-ttc11tly run~ the )(line \vay \\'ith the grain). arrying the idel1

e\en further, an i 11 j e c t i o n - 111 o l d e d "Queen t\nne st \ ll' pia til re\in (ha1r i · produced through t he \\'or k 111 a n ', h i p of even greater certainty in a \ery highly rt:gu­lated \vav that

I

betra\\ no hint of variation fron1 on<:: lhair to the next. l)ifferent kind ,. and l o 111 b i n a t i o n s o f \V o r k 111 a n \ h i p ­\Vhether free or rcgu-1 ate d ... \V he t h c r l he

~VOOD~VORK DECfl\-1BrR 1996 55

• r ...... 1an 11p co I e to be under tood a d

cia ted fo ~ the _ ~t ·t i , our e .. · ~o 1n1e 1t willlo e 1nuch of

out<.on1e"' arc pre dictable or hang-

'-

ing in the bal -ance:: arc c~1ch in t he i r o \V n o n -ttxts valid. \;one are inherently \Uperior to any of

t h c o t h e r "' ( e ll c h kind, \V h c t h c r applied to a truck pallet or a hand­dovttailed dnnvcr,

• • an, 111 tt O\Vn t t r 111 s , b t.: d o n e leanly, or sloppi­

ly, or son1C\vhere in bet\veen ) and Pye recogn i'le'-~ the value of e~1ch kind in its pia e.

lit: de"'pairs, ho\V ve::r, at the

o v t r '" h e I n1 i n g preponde::rance in the 1nodern envi­ronn1ent of thing) n1adc in a rctnOr'-le le'-lslv regul~tted \vav through the cook-

' I.. , , '-

ie cutter '''orktnan~hip of certainty, at tht: t:Xpense of the di\'er'-lity of te\.turc,

s u r fa<. e"' a n d s h a p e"' t h a t <. ~1 n on I y be achi vtd through the \Vorktnanship of risk. rrhis bring\ hin1 to the question that trouble"' eve::rvbodv s soul, tht:

I I

qut:stion of'' hethcr the fine \Vorktnan-ship of the individual craftsn1an is going extin t. ;\ccording to Pye, it isn' t,

a n d n e \ e r \ \' i 11, b u t h e "'~1 y "' i t ~ p rod u ts \Vhose:: qualities, for the n1ost part, art the rtsult of the \Vorkinanship of risk ,,, ill of nece'-1'-lity ahvays bt.: ~xp<::nsivt. Even then, it ,s unlikely

then:: II tver bt: tnuch n1onev in it for I

the tnakers, but P\·e, likt Jan1e"' 1\.renov, •

suggests that in the future th' fine'-lt \\'ork 1night be done not (or at lc,1st not

56 \VOOD\VORK DECE~1BFR 1996

etain ."

arlic bask t -hap d like a bulb of garlic 111ad in hina. Rapidly produc d in quantity

by cotta e industt}~ the 1·vorkn1a11. hip i fairly r~ ' but probably~ gulated by a tetnplat or a 111old of .,0111 sort. 1'"11 re is an letn nt of risk iuvolv d in l~leaving the basket, but a prin1itiv kind of the H'Ork111anship of certainty is 1nix d • • tnto tt too.

done e\.clu'-li\cly) by proft:ssionals oper­ating under sevtn:: cconotni pressures, but by a nHlteu rs or part - t i n1e profe"'­sional"' '''ho, relatively speaking, have nothing to lose in pursuing exc lienee

for its o \V n sake. l''o tho '" h o "',1 v, , "Sure, but the~ ,vt got all tb titn in the

'''orld, ' Pyc tnight havt: re::plied that the an1llteur \\'ho just pokes and fu'-1'-~C'-~ \Vith

the \Vork \viii fail t 0 i 111 p ~H·t t 0 i t t h t signature vitality t h a t <. o 111 e s o f a

S\vift '-lUre stroke of the tool. l I o \\. e \' e r, he:: \Vrotc, if tht.:v ,

\Vork at it, c.una -

teur"' can dt.:\clop the kind of un'-ltrangulated

deftnc"'"' and speed \vhi h

111 a k c"' a \V or k

o 111 e a 1 i ' e . F o r

profc"'~ionals,

dcftne"'"' and speed arc lcgiti -111 a t c p o i n t s o f pride .. ·ot to bt:

con fu"'cd \Vi t h the distracted haste of

sloppy '''orkn1an­ship, they arc cru­cidl parts of tht

s k i II o f a n yo n e \\' o r k i n g t o s u r v i ' c through cr,lft, and it \Vould be a n1istl1ke to di'-l<.ount then1 fron1 the vantage poi n t of t he fussbudget p t: r fcc t ion i 111

of an infinite::h lei")ured atnateur. I

\Vhat underlie -- our conception of th right \\' a r to do ~on1ething, our habit of

difft.:rentiatin 1 bt.:t\veen a bc,lutifullv , don job and a poor one? \\ hy do \Vt even bother to tnakc thc'-lc di~tinctions? \Ve bot h c r, \ ,, r o t c P v t: , b c c a u "'c fo r a II ,

prllcti al purpo'-le'-1, \Vithout be~1uty \Ve

arc dead. Bcl1uty is biologically ncce'-1 -sarv to htunan ulture and iviliz~ tion, ,

e::ven ,,,hile our 0\\' 11 ulturc tt:nds to

trivialize it, thinking of art as just tht extra squirt of \Vhipped crcan1, '-10111 -thing pasted-on after all th real busi­ness is taken care of. Flying in tht face of functionalists, Pve:: \vrote that fron1

I

the standpoint of \vhcther ~otnething

\\'Ork ~ or not, n1ost of the care hn i~hed o n fi n e \ v o r k tn a n ~ h i p i ~ r call}' p r c tt y u~ele~'): profiled n1olding~ ,1ren,t ab~o ·

lutcly nece~~,H·y; \valb don't have to be

de,1d-plun1b; surfc1ce~ don't ahvays ha\C to be all that fla l, but driven bv ,1 de~i re

' for or d c r and o 111 <..:I in e ~.., ~ \Ve t r v to ,

n1,1ke then1 that \Va)' anv\vav. \\·e arc I j

a r t i ~ t ~ c· \\ e , as a \ \' h 0 l t: s pel i e ~ n 0 t

just tho~..,e few pur~uing shak\ career~.., in " ·r h c 1\ r t ~.., , , 1 \vi L h a need to co n 1 p o ~ c

• our el1Vll'OlllllC11l. I a\ i d P y e \V a') a n ,1 c c. o 111 p l i ~ h c d

craftsrnan hin1~clf, and ~o kne\v \\here

of he spoke .. \n inventive and

p o e t i c. \ \' o o (h v o r k e r, h i " o 'v n \\'Ork gave \\eight to \vha t he

had to ~av in print. In his latt:r \e,1r'-,, hi~ \VOrk in \VOOd lOll -

~ 1 ~ ted n1 o ~.., tl v o f £ r ,1 c. e fu 11 v ; "-' ,

carved and turned bO\\)~..,,

<.rafted largely through the "\vorkrnanship of ri~k," son1e tinlt:S in a (( free , and son1e

tin1es in a ((highly rcgul,lted"­

nlannt:r. l Ii , free \\'Orktnan-

s h i p i s t: x e n1 p l i f i e d b \ t h c t ,1 p c r c d flu t in g" h c i 111 parted (by hand, controlling an inge niou s gouge-holding fixture ca II t: d a '~ fluting engine") to

the "u r fa<. e '> of hi~.., c. ,1 r vc d bo,\1~.., for rhvthn1 , for te\.turc, ,

and sirnply for the ~..,beer tonic.

cIa r it y l hat c. o 111 c '> of p ult in g

t:verything on the line \Vith e\ erv stroke of the the tool.

" P)'e ~ · rnorc hiohlv regulated" b , '-

\\'Orks \\ere ~tnall lidded bo\.C~

turned and then n1eticulou~lv inci~..,cd \Vith gra\er~ · ahva\~

t.. '

\\'it h the r i ~ k of I o ~in g the pie(. e \\' i l h 0 n e slip 0 r the

hand ) on an inde\.ed, tre,1dlc o p e r a t c d o rna 111 e n t a I I a t h e.

lo1.ver-arranging bask t, Japan. An elegant exanzple of so1nething that could only have b en nzad

th~ough th l1,ork1nanship of risk, begin­ning l1'itlz the decision on \¥hat pieces of ba1nboo to harvest split, and prepare into splints, then going on to nzasterful control ov r things like th thickness, tape1~ color, and suppleness of th splints and the density and tension of the 111 ave. Highly ~egulated 1vorkn1a11ship, but altnost in1possibl to build jron1 a draH'­ing. Curves see1n to spring out of the character of the rnaterial. \ 'ork lik" this co1nes only th~ough the exercise of skill.

\Vhate\er the theoretical concern~ that underlie then1, n1anv of Pye\ \\'Ork~, c11.., ' '

you can ~ee fron1 the e\.an1ple~ here, arc

c \. t r e n1 e 1 v b c aut i fu] in and of the rn-, ~ch e~.

; \n anah ~..,t and philo~..,opher of craft,

I a\id P\e \\,1'-, c1hva\~.., ~hc1rpl) a\\'arc of h is r e c1 ~ o n ~.., f o r do i n g ~ o n1 e t h i n g t h i ~.., \vay or that. Hi~ perception~.., on \VOrk tnan<;hip, tool<;, ~t\ lc, <;urface, te\.ture,

fonn, di~tance, ~calc -and about per­

ception itself are pro\o<.ati\e and can open up your eye~. ()cca~..,ionally he can lo')c you in a fog of too n1any \VOrd'),

but at be~t, he grapple\ brilliantly \Vith

quc~tion" that arc not e,1~\ to get \Vord~ around. I ike ]an1c~

krenov ( \vho has great re~pe<.t for hitn ), I a\id P\e get~.., vou

to think n1orc deeply ,1bout \ v h a t i t 1 n e a n ~ t o p i c. k u p ,1

tool. \Vith !he l\.ature a11d 1\rt of \Vorkn1an~hip and ~rhe

.\·a t u r c a 11 d 1\ e ~ t h e It c_, of 1 e.'dgJJ, he ga\c u~.., the lan ­guage to talk about the confu­~ion ~urrounding the fal')e

oppo~ilion of the hand and the n1a hinc) and a n1eans of

finding our \\'ay out of it.

JfCilll 10rdon I~ ll COil ­

lrihutillg editor.

'"fhe ~\·at ure a11d ;\rt of \Vorknuzn~hip and '"the J\.ature

and J\c~t hctrc~ o/ l)c~1gn are available directlv fron1 the

'

publi~..,her for 19.95 et1c.h

(plus 2.SO "hipping and han­d I i n g for one or the pair) :

C,11nbiun1 Pre~~..,

P. . Box 909

Bethel, CT 0680 I

\VOOD\VORK DECEMBER 1996 57