For the most demanding clientele – Don´s Sling dining room set

March 15, 2011

Karin Goyer Don S. Shoemaker Design Lines - SEÑAL, S.A. , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment


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 dedicated customers:

The Sling dining room was the most exclusive dining room set within Don´s repertoire. The complete set consisted of a rectangular dining table with parquetry top handcrafted in cueramo tropical wood, 8 or more Sling dining chairs (with and without armrests) in solid rosewood and a matching cabinet available in three sizes. The dining table´s shape has the unmistakable “Shoemaker” style:

The leather upholstery of these Sling dining chairs could be ordered in different colors as displayed in the vintage catalog page above, however, most Shoemakeristis preferred the traditional black leather…

The shape of the Sling cabinet remained always the same, but depending on the size of the dining room or the amount of different things that you wanted to display, the cupboard started with a 2-door display cabinet, the next version had on one side a 2-door display cabinet and shelves on the other side, and finally the largest model had a 2-door display, open shelves and a small compartment with door in the middle and another vertical display row on the opposite side. The separate sideboard had 1 drawer with 2 doors for the smallest version, 2 drawers with 4 doors for the medium size and 3 drawers with 6 doors for the large model. I have included a picture on the large Sling cabinet, a very impressive piece of furniture in your Don S. Shoemaker dining room.

Copyright © 2010-2017 Karin Goyer. All Rights Reserved.

@donshoemaker.com

The unique Sling Swinger Chair

February 28, 2011

Karin Goyer Don S. Shoemaker Design Lines - SEÑAL, S.A. , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment


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 design achievements. Although, the output of the “Sling Line” lasted during three decades, the “Elephant Lounge” remained an exclusive special edition of only 5 sets. The Sling “Swinger” chair and the Sling “Sloucher” chair are well known to collectors and galleries.

The Sling Swinger chair is of timeless elegance, the perfect integration of form, function and exotic woods. The production of these harmoniously sculpted chairs in solid tropical woods was only possible thanks to the highly sophisticated manufacturing equipment and special tools that Don had at his workshop. Shoemaker´s favorite tropical woods used for the production of these attractive swinging chairs were granadilla, cueramo and cocobolo, combined with black or brown leather upholstery. Besides the wide arms model a second version was available with narrow arms, an alternative for smaller living spaces. Below a Sling Swinger chair from my personal collection in heavy solid cocobolo tropical wood:

Another unique feature about Don´s furniture designs as I have already noted before is that he excelled in developing systems for link and joint, he tried to avoid no matter what the use of screws and nails in his work. These chairs are assembled to perfection, easily dismountable for an uncomplicated transport to any place in the world. A different Sling Swinger chair from my private collection is shown here, this time in solid granadilla tropical wood:

And finally, here is a picture of one of my Sling Swinger chairs with its matching ottoman with black leather upholstery. The perfect combination. Each piece bears the Don S. Shoemaker decal studio label.

Copyright © 2010-2017 Karin Goyer. All Rights Reserved.

@donshoemaker.com

The George R. Shoemaker heritage – identifying his designs

October 3, 2010

Karin Goyer George R. Shoemaker Heritage - ARRENDADORA SHOEMAKER , , Leave a comment


George did not mastermind a large quantity of furniture pieces during the time he directed the destiny of  ARRENDADORA SHOEMAKER but his designs were very appreciated by the Shoemakeristis. Many George R. Shoemaker furniture pieces are copied and sold as “Don S. Shoemaker originals” not recognizing George´s talent and contribution to his Dad´s work. He was a great designer by his own right. He had a restless mind and he also experimented in Art Nouveau,  Art Deco and even English XIX Century styles.

  • Back in the early 1990´s George R. Shoemaker complemented the Sling living lounge set originally created by his father with a Sling two-seater. The Sling line now included a two-seater variant produced in rosewood. The armrests were of exactly the same size as the ones on the Sling Swinger chair, the black leather upholstery came with individual leather padded backseats (the picture below shows a Sling settee produced by ARRENDADORA SHOEMAKER in the 1990’s).

Three-seater Sling by George R. Shoemaker

  • Below a George R. Shoemaker Sling round table. His characteristic improvement to the edge of the round table makes his furniture production recognizable at first glance. George made these edges of solid wood to prevent the parquetry from chipping.

Copyright © 2010-2017 Karin Goyer. All Rights Reserved

@donshoemaker.com

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