Leading light leaves the furniture world...a tribute to Alan Peters O.B.E

Spotted on the Designermakers.org website, a fitting tribute by Jeremy Broun about Alan Peters renowned furniture maker...

'Alan Peters, the celebrated furniture, maker died on 11th October 2009 at the age of 76. He had been ill for some time. His funeral service will be held on Friday 23rd October at St Michael's Church in Minehead, Somerset at 2pm.
Alan Peters was born in 1933 in Petersfield, Hants, the son of a  precision engineer. In 1949 he was apprenticed to Edward Barnsley and became one of the few direct links with the Arts and Crafts Movement, pioneered by William Morris. In 1962 he set up his first workshop in Hindhead, Surrey and in 1973 he moved to Kentisbeare in Devon where he worked for the major part of his career until moving to Minehead in Somerset in 2002.
Amongst the many awards he received was an OBE in 1990 for his services to furniture design. He was known worldwide for his simple understated yet clearly distinctive modern furniture designs, but also for his tireless efforts as a teacher, writer and assessor. To a generation he was arguably the foremost British furniture designer maker.
A turning point in his work was a scholarship to Japan in 1975 where he was influenced by the simple vernacular architecture.He also said: "If some day someone regards a piece of my furniture as a work of art, that's fine, that's a bonus, but it's not my motive in producing it; that has always been to produce a piece of  furniture to which I am happy to put my name." But in reality he made an art of his craft and his legacy to woodworkers is underpinned by his integrity as a person and as a craftsman and his deep understanding of wood.
He is survived by his wife Laura who supported him throughout his career and his daughter Christine (42) and his son David (41).

MAJOR AWARDS
1959: Elected to the British Craft Centre
1968: Elected Fellow of Society of Designer Craftsman.
1975: Crafts Council Bursary to visit Japan
1978: Winsor & Newton Craft Award
1979: Winston Churchill Travelling Fellowship to visit South Korea,  Taiwan and Hong Kong
1988: Centennial Medal of the Society of Designer Craftsmen
1990: O.B.E
2000: Academician of South West Academy of Fine and Applied Arts
2002: Award of Distinction, American Furniture Society.'

Jeremy Broun FRSA

Our condolences to Alans' family

photograph courtesy of Amazon.co.uk