Contemporary Makers

Monday, December 22, 2008

Mark Thomas

Sterling Silver Gorget, approvimately 3 3/8" wide x 1 1/8" at the center line. This piece is the size of some trade silver items but with a finer motif of an acanthus engraved with floral accents. The edge is turned over around the gorget with a border of nick/dot engraving. The gorget is suspended from a chain with toggle link for an easy connection. The chain is attached to buttons, as seen on some of the finer antique examples.

This Large cross with flower center is Sterling Silver, 2 1/4" tall without bale and 1 1/2" wide.

Mark is a maker of 18th and 19th century objects d'art.

Photos supplied by Mark Thomas.

Bill Keeler Ax

More work can be see at Beaver Bill Forging Works.

Photos by Jan Riser.

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Mike Buss Soapstone Inkwells

The soap stone ink wells are inspired from a number of books on Native art I have or specimens I have seen. As the originals are folk art in the main, there is no specific design or standard to follow. They are all different. Eric Sloane's book Diary of an Early American Boy, shows a soapstone ink well similar to some of the ones I have made. It reportedly dates form 1805. M.B.

Photo supplied by Mike Buss.

Antique Tape Loom and Shuttle

This loom must have been broken off from a larger loom at one time. One one side the corners are rounded while the other side they are straight.

Part of the charm of this loom is all the irregularities. The pattern of the tape is determined by how the loom is threaded. Tapes were used a apron strings, garters, bag ties and horn straps. Art likes to uses them to attached items to his hunting bags.

The shuttle is used for carrying the weft thread between the warp threads.

Hand spun linen thread purchased at the Fair at New Boston. This thread is so fine that it makes an excellent weft thread.

Photos by Jan Riser.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Contemporary Makers: Tom Conde, Fingerweaving

In this fast paced world of instant gratification it’s rare to find people who take the time to create pieces from a distant past. Pieces done in a way that would be very familiar to someone living in the 18th century. Tom Conde is just such a person. Tom is a devoted reenanctor and accomplished artist. He knows well how his pieces will be used by reenactors and how they were used in the past by the first people of North America. He is well aware of the effort that Native artisans put into each and every piece. When at an event Tom becomes an 18th century man.

Tom does not offer a huge selection of items, instead he prefers to do the absolute finest work available within his range. He uses only the best raw materials that are carefully chosen to represent as closely as possible the original materials used so long ago. His sensibilities are closely aligned with the Native American.

He is always available to offer advice or share his knowledge. Tom’s work can be viewed at a number of events around the nation as well as at his website Conde Trading.

Q: Have you always been interested in history?
A: As a child, my love for history drove me to read everything I could get my hands on about colonial and American history. Later in life that interest led me to the 18th and early 19th century events called rendezvous and re-enacting and my introduction to the art I now produce.

Q: How did Conde Trading come about?
A: Conde Trading came about as a way to help me, and my son, afford to attend rendezvous and re-enactment. I am and always will be a participant at these events first and a seller second.

Q: What is the driving force behind your work?
A: The love of trying to re-create the time period, and the people who are also trying to do the same, is what drives me. It doesn't matter at what level of research and authenticity you are comfortable, as long as you remember the goal is to do without the modern as much as possible, not as much as is convenient. The idea is to do the best we can and have fun doing it.

Q: What intrigues you about fingerweaving?
A: Finger weaving, to me, is more than just history; it is an art. I am an artist by my own hand. When I became interested in finger weaving, I had never seen a piece of work. Had never laid eyes on a bag, sash, or tumpline. I taught myself this art with the aid of two publications. From these and many questions and endless hours of research, the products I now produce were born.

Q: Can you give us a brief history of fingerweaving?
A: Fingerweaving seems to have no definite beginning. It's origins are lost in time but it has existed for thousands of years. Fingerwoven pieces were used to make impressions on clay pottery. These weavings were often done by a method called “twining.” The work more commonly thought of as fingerweaving, the items I make in wool yarns, are representative of the items that begin to appear in collections around the middle of the 1700's. Although beautiful in their design, these items were not just for show. Fingerweaving produced functional items for daily work. Sashes, bags, garters, straps for bags and powderhorns, tumplines (burden straps for carrying and dragging loads), garters and other items were useful tools.

Q: What about the colors used?
A: Some pieces were dyed using a technique called "resist" dying. Resist dying is the art of dying material and using something to block the dye from penetrating certain predetermined areas of the material being dyed. This creates an un-dyed place on the piece, forming designs of contrasting color. On other pieces these lighter, or different colored areas seem to have been achieved by “reducing” or “bleaching” the main color. By asking people who specialize in natural dying I was able, over a period of several years of experimentation, to reproduce what I believe to be the methods used in dying items made in the 18th century.

Q: Its obvious that you take a great deal of pride in your work.
A: I take great pride in my work. Not because I am self-taught, but because I am reproducing a piece of history from a time in our nation that intrigues me. I take enormous joy in discussing my work and its era with the public. Although mine is a very small selection, my goal is to provide the best goods and raw materials we can find for the participants of these events. If I do not have what you need, then I will try to tell you where you can find what you want, rather than try to sell you what I have that comes close

Photos by Tom Conde (top two and bottom).
Photo of the 4 tumplines was taken by Rick Lambert.

Article previously published in the Broadside a publication of the Contemporary Longrifle Association.