Chair-maker Chair-maker Since the mid-17th century a chair-maker, or chairbler, is a craftsman in the furniture trades specializing in chairs. Before that time seats were made by joiners, turners, and coffermakers, and woven seats were made by basketmakers. In 18th-century London, chair-makers might work on their own account, or within the workshop of upholders, as members of the upholstery trade were called. In 1803 Thomas Sheraton observed a division of labour that was of long standing in London and county towns: "Chair-making is a branch generally confined to itself, as those who professedly work at it, seldom engage to make cabinet
Mark Wilkinson (designer) Mark Wilkinson (designer) Mark Roger Wilkinson OBE, OLM (1950 – 5 July 2017) was an English furniture designer. Wilkinson was the founding designer of Mark Wilkinson Furniture and Smallbone of Devizes. Both companies make fitted furniture and became divisions of Canburg Ltd. He was a visiting lecturer in Design Creativity at the University of the West of England (UWE) and contributed to design teaching at the Rotherham College of Arts and Technology, Rycotewood College, and the Chelsea-based KLC Design School. Wilkinson was described by Eliot Nusbaum, writing in the "Sunday Times", as the "Mozart of Kitchen Cabinet Makers" while the