Home is where the heart is. And inside, in that living, or family, or great room where family and friends gather, is where some of the most important and pleasurable moments of our lives happen: late night talks in front of a warming fire, great books read, friendships made, perhaps even a marriage proposal heard. Laughter and tears. Welcomes and farewells. Indeed, over the next few weeks in many homes this is the room where an important part of the holidays happen, where decorations are placed and presents opened.
Fine quality sofas and chairs comfort and spoil us in these moments.
Fine quality sofas and chairs comfort and spoil us in these moments. They somehow make the experience all the richer. The comfort they afford us help us to be present and engaged in the moment. Indeed, a fine quality handcrafted sofa or chair goes a long way to give a home a feeling of comfort and peace. It is, to be sure, a singular, simple, pleasure to sit down into a fine, handcrafted quality chair or sofa.
In view of the importance of these items to our homes and lives, Red Scarf Equestrian is pleased and excited to announce its new partnership with two fine crafts-persons, Lou and Doris Bozzelli. Together, they hand make the finest of leather sofas, loveseats and chairs. Exceptional hand-construction leads directly to exceptional quality and comfort.
Over many years Joanna has developed an eye for items where quality and beauty meet.
The leather used is smooth to the touch, authentic in its feel, honest in the way it holds you. It is one of the finest leathers you have ever felt. Joanna Wiseberg, founder of Red Scarf Equestrian, has had much experience with leather, having manufactured ladies’ purses and equestrian boot bags. Over many years Joanna has developed an eye for items where quality and beauty meet. She is not easily impressed. So, when she tells you that the leather of the chair and sofa is of the finest quality, you can rest assured that the leather used, full grain, aniline-dyed European cowhide, is indeed exceptional.
If you had occasion to watch Lou at his craft, you would notice that it is with such, great, care that he places his hand on the lower edge of the leather sofa. To watch Lou at work is to feel as though you have somehow arrived at an earlier day, when craftsmen took their time to patiently achieve the perfection of their craft. You can almost hear the horses passing on the cobblestone outside. It is as though you have been given the opportunity, even privilege, of watching a man who practices his craft with skill and dedication. The room is silent. The focus and determination are almost palpable.
Lou adjusts his hand’s placement slightly. You can tell the way he handles the piece that it is as if a part of him. It is as though there is a momentary unity between craftsman and the object at hand. The furniture is crafted with a great deal of knowledge, knowledge not only of his craft, but also of he himself. You get the sense watching him that it is a matter of demanding the best not only from his materials and tools, but from himself as well. The devotion is clearly evident here. It is an expression of who he is.
The same can be said of the craftswoman Doris. The pleasure she takes in her craft is obvious as she speaks of her trade. She speaks with conviction when she describes the factors that need to be considered and weighed: the design and shape of the furniture, the height of the chair, the quality and colour of the leather, the selection of the other materials. It is as though she were speaking another language when she speaks of her life’s work.
Lou and Doris have been crafting leather sofas and chairs for a long time now. They met at college over thirty years ago and have been perfecting their craft almost ever since.
But what does the term “hand-crafted” really mean in terms of leather furniture?
But what does the term “hand-crafted” really mean in terms of leather furniture? The term implies that everything about the selection of materials and construction is done with intense personal interest and pride of workmanship. So, to give just one example, the suspension used in the sofa is the eight-way hand-tied coil spring suspension. This is a crucial characteristic of a quality sofa, a fundamental part of the tradition in furniture craftsmanship since the very beginnings.
The term hand-crafted also implies that the furniture is not mass-produced by machine. Each piece receives the personal attention of a master furniture-maker, and is constructed by a skilled hand, under the guidance of a skilled eye. It is in the attention to precision and detail where we encounter the beauty of the hand-crafted piece of furniture.
Indeed, it is a methodology which takes you back to a simpler world. A world where people took the time to do things not only correctly, but to the best of their ability. And by so doing were able to achieve a perfection that is simply out of the reach of the mass-production techniques of today. It is the perfection that comes with caring about quality, and the willingness to invest the necessary time to achieve it.
Hand-crafted means not having to rush, it means allowing the necessary time for the process of creating.
Hand-crafted means not having to rush, it means allowing the necessary time for the process of creating. It also means that because of the practical limitation on the number of pieces that can be created because of this investment of time and care, they offer an exclusivity, a personal touch, to the furniture that graces your home. Because of the process itself only so many can be made.
Perhaps the hand-crafted technique can be best understood as the difference between creating something and merely producing it. Art, true art, is a product of the hand. Red Scarf Equestrian would like to suggest that Lou and Doris are artists in their own right, artisans in the craft of furniture creation.
Happy Holidays from Red Scarf Equestrian!
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