In search of the Real Thing...

Furniture Designer Petter Southall makes his unique
arching wooden furniture in a hillside studio at Chilcombe near Bridport. His work is in public buildings, corporations and collections, as well as many private homes. He talks to Mary Talbot about connecting to the world we live in.

You say you are inspired by Dorset, and clearly your boat plays an important part, but can you say more about how these connect with your furniture designs?

Petter: (Laughs.) I guess it’s about how you want to live your life. Either you buy into the consumer society, get what you can and chuck it out when it falls apart – never mind what it is made of or who went through what to make it – or you slow down and try to tap into something more permanent. Try to tread lightly on the planet and contribute in a positive way to the future.
My designs aim for purity. Being out in the elements blows away all the clutter in your mind and it is a kind of calm held in tension that I’m looking for. I play with shapes and forms in my notebooks. Shapes I know or hope I can make in solid timber. I look for new and interesting ideas which will work practically. Then I strip them down so that the aesthetic is the construction. I do often find an echo of a boat creeping in. It’s partly because I use the old boatbuilding technology, the steam bending and copper rivets. Also I love curves, I find them sensuous and freeing especially in contrast to straight lines and right angles.

You talk of the consumer society but who can afford your work?

Petter: Well, we all make decisions how to spend our money. I’ve been honoured to make some fantastic commissions for companies and people who can spend a lot. It’s any maker’s dream to be able to spread your wings a bit, although, the way I am I usually give them more than they pay for which does nothing for my bookkeeping in the end. It is just as wonderful, however, when people who don’t have a lot of money inherit £5,000 or so and come to us to make them something. I made a cabinet like that for an academic. Then he came back and ordered six Scandia Chairs with red leather for his wife’s fortieth birthday. He paid for them monthly over a year and we made sure his chairs were perfect.
I’ve worked a lot for designers, collectors and artists actually, people who know what they are looking at and trust their own judgement. What we need is a Real Thing movement. Like organic real food, I’d like people to take pleasure in where things come from, and what went into making them. When people buy a real handmade object, they invest in something which will last and age beautifully, something they can pass on to their children. They invest in craftsmanship and keeping those hard-won skills alive. In my case they bring natural materials into their lives, renewable native hardwoods. By upping the value of very fine trees we make sure they are replanted, locking in carbon, providing habitat for wild creatures and helping fight climate change. We should all be aware that glues and plastics can exude harmful fumes whereas natural materials feel, look and are wonderful to live with.

But why not mass produce your work in an
environmentally sound way?

Petter: Living with handmade objects brings a whole other level into your life. I pick up my mug, it was made by the hand of my friend who lives in Norway, that’s a special link. It’s the same reason that an original painting is worth so much more than a print or a fake. It was touched by the hand of the genuine maker. Whether you know the maker or not, whether it was made specially for you or not, if it’s a really good piece of work then every time you look at or use that object, it gives you a thrill, a connection. And that doesn’t wear off.

You had a showroom briefly in Bridport and since then just off Sloane Square in London. Where next?

Petter: We’ve been putting together a new website brilliantly designed by Ross Dalgleish, a talented and artistic programmer based in Bridport. I can change anything on it at any time. It’s also playful and fun to look at I hope. Nothing can replace touching the solid oak but I can send drawings, ideas and stock lists with pictures and prices online and, combined with exhibitions and meetings, it makes working from Dorset possible.

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