The Woodworker & Woodturner – August 2019

One of Alan’s

‘Bowl’ tables

44 The Woodworker & Good Woodworking August 2019 http://www.getwoodworking.com

Andrew Lawton was lucky enough to be involved

in the making of Alan Peters’ last piece of furniture,

and here he recalls the many happy hours spent

with him at his Somerset workshop back in 2005

I

t is a privilege to have been invited by
Jeremy Broun to be one of the judges for
the Alan Peters Furniture Award 2020.
I hope this short article gives some idea
as to why many of us hold Alan and his work
in such high esteem and believe that an award
should be given annually in his name.
In the spring of 1982, I was invited to take
part in an exhibition entitled ‘Woodworkers of
Excellence’ at the Sun Inn, Hitchin, Hertfordshire,
which was organised by the formidable Betty
Norbury, wife of woodcarver Ian Norbury. I
believe this was the first large exhibition that
she organised and a forerunner of the widely
known annual ‘A Celebration of Craftsmanship

& Design’ exhibitions in Cheltenham, which

are still going strong after all these years,

now under the curatorship of Jason Heap.

An exquisite chest of drawers

I was in the early stages of my career as a

designer-maker and it was quite a thrill to be

showing my furniture alongside many established

and well known makers; there was much fine

work on display but one piece in particular

stood out for me as being exceptional: a chest of

drawers in English walnut with a slightly oriental

appearance combined with characteristics

of the ‘Cotswold School’ of English furniture

makers – Ernest Gimson, the Barnsleys, Peter

Waals and others – who took

much of their inspiration from

the vernacular woodwork and

architecture of pre-industrial rural

England. This chest of drawers was

of understated yet subtly refined

design, harmoniously proportioned,

the timber thoughtfully chosen to

create a balanced pattern of colour and grain and

the exquisite workmanship throughout spoke to

me as the work of a great craftsman. The maker

behind the piece was Alan Peters, and no wonder

his work was good: he had served a five-year

apprenticeship at the Edward Barnsley Workshop,

then trained as a woodwork teacher, taken

a further course in interior design, before

setting up his own workshop in the early 1960s.

Later that same year I saw more of Alan’s

work at another of Betty’s shows, and this time

it was ‘Masterclass 82’ at the Queen’s Hotel,

Cheltenham. On this occasion Alan was showing

various pieces including one of his unmistakable

‘Bowl’ tables. We got chatting and I found him

to be a most approachable man, or as someone

else once described him: ‘A modest man with

plenty to be immodest about’. In subsequent

years we occasionally met at exhibitions up

THE MAKERS’ MAKER

ALAN PETERS’ LAST PROJECT

Alan Peters and Andrew Lawton
discuss project requirements
back in 2005

Alan Peters with his two apprentices:

Stephen Hopper and Keith Newton