Furniture With Feelings
By Christa TerryAre furniture designers artists? Is cabinetmaking an art form in an of itself? Jake Cress seems to think so with his whimsical furniture pieces that poke fun at traditional chairs and tables. His creations are made one at a time, very carefully, by one dusty old guy (that’d be Jake Cress) who works by himself in an ancient log cabin.

According to an article in the Roanoke Times, Jake Cress “was inspired to do his funny furniture after being embarrassed by telling a curator in Georgetown that a woman had left her gloves on a table. The gloves were a part of the sculpture, Cress learned.” Whoops!

Of course, Cress’ funny furniture isn’t for those on a budget… and his traditional pieces and refinished antiques don’t come cheaply, either. A box will run you between $100 and $2,400. I’m not saying that his chests and tables and cabinets aren’t worth the lucre — far from it. Rather, in my set, these are the sorts of things we admire from afar instead of buying.

But if you’re flush, the front page of Cress’ web site does say that everything you see is for sale. Then again, it also says that the cabinetmaker will turn into a termite at midnight, so who knows.
And then there’s this:

AAAAGH! For real, someone needs to kill this mouse murdering grandfather clock with fire.
July 4th, 2009 at 11:05 am
Creepy, creepy chair… it also seems to be throwing its hands up at its inability to reach the ball. My gran and her friends had similar chairs and furniture, and I wouldn’t have been at all surprised to see them come to life like that when nobody was looking.
July 4th, 2009 at 4:06 pm
I always loved furniture with feet when I was a wee one, Maggiethecat. But I don’t think I’ll ever look at it the same way after reading your comment…