…continued Also an important part of Mexico´s rich 20th century design history has to be credited to the furniture production that came from the Yucatan Peninsula: Regil de Yucatán, a furniture company active in the Yucatan Peninsula, was known for its quality artisan furniture pieces produced in mahogany and cedar …
The Chamela chair was developed and manufactured in Mexico for several years from 1974 and sold through LOGADO, S.A. a top contemporary furniture design shop when Po Shun was living there. http://www.poshunleong.com/seat2014_1.html With a minimum of natural materials, a great deal of comfort came from the seat sling. The Mexico …
continued from part # 5 As described in my previous post series about the Mexican Butaque, we have seen several samples and interpretations of these emblematic chairs coming from different regions and designers in Mexico. Considering all the information and research data that I have gathered in the past years, …
Collecting Don´s sculptures in wood can be very exciting and entertaining. Through the years I accumulated quite a few pieces and I enjoy very much having them around. Don inspired himself from Mexican folklore and designed remarkable pieces that would represent bats, scorpions and other symbolic animals from the Mexican …
…../3 Po Shun Leong´s story (Part #3) on his acquaintance with Don S. Shoemaker in Mexico since the 1960’s and how this friendship impacted his career. So, how did Po Shun Leong come to Mexico? Here is his humorous narrating: “It was a serendipitous accident. Actually I was not sure …
There always was this magical atmosphere in Don´s studio/home, it felt like being a child in a big toy store every time we visited him. To resist his delightful Gift Line collection was virtually impossible, no matter how, the discovery of a new piece or gadget that could match with …
Many of my readers have asked me about Don´s dining room sets with combining cupboards and cabinets. For this week I have decided to write about the Sling dining room set, the favorite among Don´s devoted customers: The Sling dining room was the most exclusive dining room set within Don´s …
When Don and his wife Barbara settled down in Santa Maria de Guido in the early 1950´s they started making wooden buttons and bowls. Within a short period of time Don became very familiar with all the exotic hardwoods grown in the southern mountains of the State of Michoacan and …
I received several requests from my readers to write about Don´s famous Sling Swinger chair, so here it is: The “Sling Casuals” furniture collection together with the “Elephant Lounge Set” limited edition (which I already described in a separate post) from the 1960’s are Don S. Shoemaker´s most accomplished organic …
When going through the literature on American furniture designers from the Mid-Century I found interesting similarities between the lives of Don S. Shoemaker and Wharton Esherick, known as the “Dean of American Craftsmen”. Both started their artistic careers as painters, both were designer-craftsmen pursuing their own unique visions striving towards …
