Joel Ficke is a furniture maker who enjoys building the finest pieces from the William and Mary, Queen Anne, and Chippendale periods. He gained an appreciation for early American furniture and history several years ago while he was renovating a 19th-Century home for use as a bed and breakfast.
Ficke’s firsthand observation of the differences between modern and pre-industrial millwork, construction techniques, and even finishes challenged him to understand and re-create them, inspiring his passion for 18th-Century furniture.
"Each piece presents its own challenges in authentic joinery, shaping, carving, and finishing while at the same time stimulating his academic curiosity about the original makers and their tools, techniques, and even shop conditions," he noted. With so many wonderful pieces to study, he finds them a source for a lifetime of learning.
The entry deadline for the 2023 Directory of
Traditional American Crafts has passed. We are now processing entries and submitting
them to our jurors. We will contract entrants after the jurors have made ther decisions.
BACKGROUND
