John Makepeace (b.1939), British Furniture Designer

John Makepeace featured image

John Makepeace (b. 1939) is a British furniture designer. The Chartered Society of Designers (CSD) president, Peter Bosson, describes Makepeace “as one of England’s finest furniture designers and makers”.

Education

He studied at Denstone College, Staffordshire, under Keith Cooper.

Motivation

Makepeace had planned to go into the ministry, but a trip to Denmark made him decide to become a cabinet maker. Even though the British furniture industry was struggling at the time, he persisted and faced rejection after rejection until, at last, a Dorset workshop agreed to instruct him “for a fee,” with the caveat that he would never turn it into a career. (Hamilton, 2018)

Biography

He started designing furniture in 1961. In 1964, he set up a workshop in Farnborough Barn, Banbury, moving in 1976 to Parnham House in Dorset. He established the Parnham Trust and School for Craftsmen in Wood in 1977. In 1989, he trained students in product design and development and used wood thinning, a waste product. One of the early students was Viscount Linley, nephew of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom.

Makepeace ceased running the trust in 2000 when it moved to the new campus at Hooke Park under a new director who handed the premises over to the Architectural Association, the international school of Architecture, for their practical modules. In 1988 he received an OBE for services to furniture design. On the bestowal of this prestigious honour, John Makepeace said: “It is unheard of for a furniture maker to receive an OBE, I’m, of course, thrilled, but it is a reflection of our work at Parnham and the team here.”

Collections

The Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, the Museum fur Kunstandwerk in Frankfurt, and the Arts Institute in Chicago are just a few collections that house John Makepeace’s famous pieces. He now takes on exclusive projects every year while working for commission. (Industry Celebrates John Makepeace, Designer and Furniture Maker, 2017)

“That variety makes wood a wonderful medium for individual craftsmanship. Long established skills enable us to utilise its special properties, and its potential is evolving as we research new possibilities.”

John Makepeace

Recognition

In 2004, the American Furniture Society gave John a Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2010, the Furniture Makers Company gave him the same award. He is an honorary fellow of the Arts University Bournemouth (2009) and Hereford College of Arts (2013). He was awarded the Prince Philip Designers Prize in 2016. In 2017, in celebration of the forty years since the launch of Parnham College, ‘Beyond Parnham’ was published. This book tells the story of the college and Hooke Park, and 100 alumni reflect on their careers.

He has been leading initiatives with the V&A to promote riskier design since 2000. In the long run, he intends to sponsor and endow a national educational programme for aspiring designers.

Sources

Byars, M., & Riley, T. (2004). The design encyclopedia. Laurence King Publishing. https://amzn.to/3ElmSlL

Wikipedia contributors. (2021, August 11). John Makepeace. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 21:53, January 17, 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=John_Makepeace&oldid=1038337634

More on British Furniture

  • Hille Modernist British Furniture Manufacturer

    Hille Modernist British Furniture Manufacturer

    Hille, a British furniture manufacturer, is known for its Modernist chairs and has collaborated with renowned designers like Robin Day and Fred Scott. The Poly Side chair, introduced in 1963, is renowned for its innovative use of materials and functional, minimalist design. Made from molded polypropylene, it is durable, lightweight, and easy to clean. The…

  • Ross Lovegrove ( b.1958) British Furniture and Product Designer

    Ross Lovegrove ( b.1958) British Furniture and Product Designer

    Lovegrove is a versatile designer who regularly draws inspiration from nature’s range of forms, as evidenced by his gently curved Lloyd Loom chaises longues, which combine sensuality and ergonomics.Read More →

  • Geoffrey Dunn (1909 – 1997) British Furniture Retailer & Designer

    Geoffrey Dunn (1909 – 1997) British Furniture Retailer & Designer

    He worked in the family retail store in Bromley, he encouraged and supported contemporary design and young designers. Dunn’s sold furniture by Marcel Breuer, Serge Chermayeff, and Alvar Aalto; fabric by Donald Bros., Edinburgh Weavers, and Warners; ceramics by Wedgwood and Michael Cardew. Read More →

  • Adeptus a British Furniture Firm (1969 – 1985) – London

    Adeptus a British Furniture Firm (1969 – 1985) – London

    Adeptus was a British Furniture Firm based in London. Background In its short lifespan, Adeptus revolutionized the furniture industry withRead More →

  • Bruce J. Talbert (1838 – 1881) Scottish architect and designer

    Bruce J. Talbert (1838 – 1881) Scottish architect and designer

    Bruce J. Talbert (1838-1881) was a British architect and designer. He was born in Dundee, Scotland. He was apprenticed to cabinet-carver Millar and subsequently to Charles Edwards, an architect in Dundee, who worked on the Corn Exchange Hall. Read More →

  • John Makepeace (b.1939), British Furniture Designer

    John Makepeace (b.1939), British Furniture Designer

    He started designing furniture in 1961. In 1964, he set up a workshop in Farnsborough Barn, Banbury, moving in 1976 to Parnham House in Dorset. He established the Parnham Trust and School for Craftsmen in Wood in 1977.Read More →

  • Ernest Race (1913 – 1964) British furniture and industrial designer

    Ernest Race (1913 – 1964) British furniture and industrial designer

    Ernest Race (1913 – 1964) was a British furniture and industrial designer. He was born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Between 1932-35, he studied interior design at the Bartlett School of Architecture of London University and 1937-39, weaving in India. Read More →

  • Alison Milner – British Designer in Eclectic Materials

    Alison Milner – British Designer in Eclectic Materials

    Her aesthetic is clean and clear – reducing, simplifying and uncovering underlying patterns. She prefers to inject gentle humour, visual poetry, narrative and a sense of place into her work.Read More →

  • Charles Voysey, British Architect and Designer

    Charles Voysey, British Architect and Designer

    Charles Francis Annesley Voysey was a renowned architect and designer of modern homes, bridging the gap between the Arts and Crafts and modernist movements. Voysey designed small and medium-sized houses and furniture, influenced by Modernism and Japanese art.Read More →

  • Ambrose Heal (1872 – 1959) British Furniture Designer

    Ambrose Heal (1872 – 1959) British Furniture Designer

    Ambrose Heal (1872–1959) was a British furniture designer known for his simple and functional designs inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement. He studied at the Slade School of Fine Art and was a member of the Art-Workers’ Guild. He adopted the more fashionable Modern approach to furniture, following the style of his designers J.F.…

  • Peter Murdoch (b.1940) British furniture, industrial designer

    Peter Murdoch (b.1940) British furniture, industrial designer

    Peter Murdoch (b.1940) is a British furniture, interior, graphic, and industrial designer.Read More →

  • Ideal Home Exhibition (est. 1908) Aspirational British Design

    Ideal Home Exhibition (est. 1908) Aspirational British Design

    The Daily Mail newspaper sponsored the Ideal Home Exhibition (from 1908). These shows provide an insight into popular taste and aspiration across all facets of domestic design and organisation in Britain.Read More →

  • Jasper Morrison (b.1959) – British Designer, quirky, understated furniture

    Jasper Morrison (b.1959) – British Designer, quirky, understated furniture

    Morrison produced quirky, satiric, understated furniture. His 1986 South Kensington flat was widely published in design magazines. He designed 1988 Door handles I and II, and a 1989 range of aluminium handles produced by FSB in Germany. Read More →

  • Geoffrey Harcourt (b.1935) British Furniture Designer

    Geoffrey Harcourt (b.1935) British Furniture Designer

    Between 1960-61, he worked at Latham, Tyler and Jensen, Chicago, and with Jacob Jensen in Copenhagen; in 1961, opened his studio in London, specialising in furniture design; from 1962; began designing seating for Artifort, the Netherlands, who produced more than 20 models of his furniture designsRead More →

  • Frank Brangwyn (1867 – 1956) British Artist and Designer

    Frank Brangwyn (1867 – 1956) British Artist and Designer

    From 1882, through his friendship with Arthur H. Mackmurdo, he worked as a draftsman and designed tapestries for William Morris; in 1885, he rented a studio and showed his work for the first time at the Royal Academy; in 1895, he executed murals for the entrance of and a frieze in Siegfried Bing’s shop L’Art…

  • Sardine Collector’s Cabinet by Michael Marriot

    Sardine Collector’s Cabinet by Michael Marriot

    This humorous, simple, and elegant approach proposed a different design agenda, harkening back to Victor Papanek and the Whole Earth Catalogue in the 1960s.Read More →

  • Sir Terence Conran (1931 – 2020), British Interior Designer

    Sir Terence Conran (1931 – 2020), British Interior Designer

    From cl950, he worked for Rayon Centre, London, and, 1951— 52, as an interior designer for Dennis Lennon; designed 1955 ‘The Orrery’ coffee-bar, London in the late 1950s, as a freelance designer. Read More →

  • Gordon Russell (1892 – 1980) British furniture maker and designer

    Gordon Russell (1892 – 1980) British furniture maker and designer

    He began working at his father’s modest antiques restoration workshop in 1908, where he learned various crafts and oversaw repairs. In 1910, he began designing furniture. After World War I, he manufactured furniture in the style of Ernest Gimson. Read More →

  • Signet a Minimalist Table by Daniel Schofield

    Signet a Minimalist Table by Daniel Schofield

    Signet is a minimalist table created by London-based designer Daniel Schofield. Created for modern live / work, nomadic lifestyles where people might want to reconfigure there space regularly or move often. A light and strong trestle that collapses in seconds making them easy to store away and transport. Read More →

  • Edward William Godwin (1833 – 1886) British architect & furniture designer

    Edward William Godwin (1833 – 1886) British architect & furniture designer

    He was a city surveyor, architect, and civil engineer who worked for William Armstrong. In 1854 in Bristol, he established his practice with no notable commissions. Consequently, between 1857 and 1859, he lived in Ireland and worked with his engineer brother.Read More →

  • Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828 – 1882) British painter and poet

    Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828 – 1882) British painter and poet

    Dante Gabriel Rossetti was a British painter and poet. He was born in London. He studied drawing with Cotman and, in 1848, with Holman Hunt. Read More →

  • Matthew Hilton (b.1957) British furniture & product designer

    Matthew Hilton (b.1957) British furniture & product designer

    Hilton graduated from Kingston Polytechnic in 1979 after attending Portsmouth College of Art and then Kingston Polytechnic. He worked as an industrial designer and model maker till 1984 after graduating.Read More →

  • Phlox collection of furniture from Okamura

    Phlox collection of furniture from Okamura

    Okamura has unveiled Phlox, designed by Rainlight in the UK. Phlox was named after the unique Night Phlox flower and inspired by a close-up view into our natural world, welcoming its gentle influence and naturally curved arcs.Read More →

  • Edwin Luytens (1869 – 1944) British Architect and Designer

    Edwin Luytens (1869 – 1944) British Architect and Designer

    In 1887, he joined the firm George and Peto, where he met Herbert Baker, later becoming a colleague in New Delhi. Richard Norman Shaw and Philip Webb influenced him.Read More →

  • Charles Ashbee (1863 – 1942) British furniture & Jewellery Designer

    Charles Ashbee (1863 – 1942) British furniture  & Jewellery Designer

    His design philosophy also played a role in reconciling the principles of honesty of construction and appropriate use of materials with mechanised production. Read More →

  • Robo-Stacker early example of ‘Recycled Design’ Movement

    Robo-Stacker early example of ‘Recycled Design’ Movement

    Robo-Stacker early example of the ‘Recycled Design’ Movement. Whirlpool washing machine drums were used to create general-purpose storage.Read More →

❤️ Receive our newsletter

Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.