A bench of sublime beauty.

Here is a change of pace.

A decorative interior bench, carved by the master furniture maker, Charles Rohlfs. He is renowned as an icon of the Arts & Crafts Movement. There was an exhibit of his furniture on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York City.  I have loved Rohlfs work for sometime, and find it some of the most inspiring sort of furniture around. As I hone my skills at woodworking, I hope to return to his work and learn from it. Of note, I did not attend the exhibit, but was lead there by a blog post by writer and fellow Mythic, Delia Sherman.

Charles Rohlfs (American, 1853–1936)
Bench, ca. 1899
Oak and iron; 45 1/2 x 37 3/4 x 24 1/2 in. (115.57 x 95.89 x 62.23 cm)
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Gift of a friend of the Department of American Decorative Arts and the Arthur Mason Knapp Fund 

This bench, with its deep dark finish, large ring handles, and metalwork resembling inset stones, suggests Rohlfs's interest in medieval furniture.

A refreshing bench amongst the autumn leaves...

Family issues have had me neglecting my bench blog, so I thought I would open things back up with a nice picture from November of 2009. A lovely little bench setting amongst the Autumn leaves on the campus of Anne Arundel Medical Center, in Annapolis, Maryland. We were there visiting a family member, and you'll note that this picture was taken well before I started a bench blog, so even back then, I was drawn to the loveliness of an empty bench in a quiet setting.