Jeremy Broun
Encyclopedia
Jeremy Broun is a British
furniture designer maker, writer, film maker and musician. Descended from Scottish gentry
, one of his ancestors was the piano maker to King George 3 and another rowed the boat to Napoleon's surrender. His mother died in his childbirth and father died when he was seventeen. He is the nephew of the late St Andrews and St Ives painter Wilhelmina Barns-Graham
. He was educated at Abbotsholme school and for a short while taught at Millfield
.
Broun's furniture is innovative in the use of technique and form. His Caterpillar Rocking Chair in 1984 'is visually stunning, a good combination of colour, structure and practicality... and has the advantage of being a truly original idea : just as Saarinen
and his pedestal chairs converted four chairlegs into one' (An Encyclopedia of Chairs - The Apple Press).
He won a Winston Churchill
Travel Scholarship to Sweden
, Finland
and Italy
in 1979 and in the same year was elected a Fellow of The Society of Designer Craftsmen, the original Arts and Crafts
Exhibition Society founded by William Morris
. Since 1980 he has been a member of the Crafts Council
Index of Selected Makers.
He has exhibited extensively including The Royal Society of Arts
and the Ars Nova Museum in Finland
.
His work was included in the 'First Sale of Contemporary British Crafts' at Sotheby's
in 1980 and in 2002 at the Centenary exhibition celebrating the Hill House designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh
.In 1989 he gained The Worshipful Company of Furniture Makers
Ambrose Heal Award for his craft documentary films. He has written numerous articles on woodworking and design including "Furniture Today" and a History of (Furniture) Designer Makers in 2005. In 2006 Broun was voted 'Professional Woodworker of the year 2005' by The Woodworker magazine and in 2006 completed a two year self-funded DVD project called "Furniture Today" which is a unique multi media presentation on British contemporary bespoke furniture set against a backcloth dating back to The Magna Carta. It includes over 800 references to furniture
, 400 plus images and 14 video clips that include interviews with top designer makers. In 2007 Broun set up his own publishing company and launched The Revised Bespoke edition of his first book 'The Incredible Router'. In 2008 he was invited to become a freelance inspector for The British Accreditation Council
for independent further and higher education. As a musician Jeremy plays the electro-acoustic guitars that he makes and can occasionally be heard busking on the streets of his home town Bath and has performed at the Bath Fringe Festival
. Several short films by Jeremy Broun on furniture design/making are published on You Tube. In 2009 he was elected a Fellow of The Royal Society of Arts.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
furniture designer maker, writer, film maker and musician. Descended from Scottish gentry
Gentry
Gentry denotes "well-born and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past....
, one of his ancestors was the piano maker to King George 3 and another rowed the boat to Napoleon's surrender. His mother died in his childbirth and father died when he was seventeen. He is the nephew of the late St Andrews and St Ives painter Wilhelmina Barns-Graham
Wilhelmina Barns-Graham
Wilhelmina Barns-Graham CBE was one of the foremost British abstract artists, a member of the influential Penwith Society of Arts.-Life:...
. He was educated at Abbotsholme school and for a short while taught at Millfield
Millfield
Millfield is an independent school in Street in Somerset, in south-west England.The school currently has a roll of 1,260 pupils, of whom 910 are boarders...
.
Broun's furniture is innovative in the use of technique and form. His Caterpillar Rocking Chair in 1984 'is visually stunning, a good combination of colour, structure and practicality... and has the advantage of being a truly original idea : just as Saarinen
Eero Saarinen
Eero Saarinen was a Finnish American architect and industrial designer of the 20th century famous for varying his style according to the demands of the project: simple, sweeping, arching structural curves or machine-like rationalism.-Biography:Eero Saarinen shared the same birthday as his father,...
and his pedestal chairs converted four chairlegs into one' (An Encyclopedia of Chairs - The Apple Press).
He won a Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
Travel Scholarship to Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
and Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
in 1979 and in the same year was elected a Fellow of The Society of Designer Craftsmen, the original Arts and Crafts
Arts and crafts
Arts and crafts comprise a whole host of activities and hobbies that are related to making things with one's hands and skill. These can be sub-divided into handicrafts or "traditional crafts" and "the rest"...
Exhibition Society founded by William Morris
William Morris
William Morris 24 March 18343 October 1896 was an English textile designer, artist, writer, and socialist associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the English Arts and Crafts Movement...
. Since 1980 he has been a member of the Crafts Council
Crafts Council
The Crafts Council was established in the United Kingdom in 1971 as the national agency for crafts and was granted a Royal Charter in 1982. The Crafts Council’s vision is to position the UK as the global centre for the making, seeing and collecting of contemporary craft...
Index of Selected Makers.
He has exhibited extensively including The Royal Society of Arts
Royal Society of Arts
The Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufacturers and Commerce is a British multi-disciplinary institution, based in London. The name Royal Society of Arts is frequently used for brevity...
and the Ars Nova Museum in Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
.
His work was included in the 'First Sale of Contemporary British Crafts' at Sotheby's
Sotheby's
Sotheby's is the world's fourth oldest auction house in continuous operation.-History:The oldest auction house in operation is the Stockholms Auktionsverk founded in 1674, the second oldest is Göteborgs Auktionsverk founded in 1681 and third oldest being founded in 1731, all Swedish...
in 1980 and in 2002 at the Centenary exhibition celebrating the Hill House designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh
Charles Rennie Mackintosh
Charles Rennie Mackintosh was a Scottish architect, designer, watercolourist and artist. He was a designer in the Arts and Crafts movement and also the main representative of Art Nouveau in the United Kingdom. He had a considerable influence on European design...
.In 1989 he gained The Worshipful Company of Furniture Makers
Worshipful Company of Furniture Makers
The Worshipful Company of Furniture Makers is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London. The organisation was formed in 1951, and the City granted it Livery status in 1963. The Company generally promotes the trade by awarding scholarship to students of the craft.The Company ranks...
Ambrose Heal Award for his craft documentary films. He has written numerous articles on woodworking and design including "Furniture Today" and a History of (Furniture) Designer Makers in 2005. In 2006 Broun was voted 'Professional Woodworker of the year 2005' by The Woodworker magazine and in 2006 completed a two year self-funded DVD project called "Furniture Today" which is a unique multi media presentation on British contemporary bespoke furniture set against a backcloth dating back to The Magna Carta. It includes over 800 references to furniture
Furniture
Furniture is the mass noun for the movable objects intended to support various human activities such as seating and sleeping in beds, to hold objects at a convenient height for work using horizontal surfaces above the ground, or to store things...
, 400 plus images and 14 video clips that include interviews with top designer makers. In 2007 Broun set up his own publishing company and launched The Revised Bespoke edition of his first book 'The Incredible Router'. In 2008 he was invited to become a freelance inspector for The British Accreditation Council
British Accreditation Council
The British Accreditation Council for Independent Further and Higher Education is an educational accreditation agency recognised by the British Government for international students entering the United Kingdom for educational purposes....
for independent further and higher education. As a musician Jeremy plays the electro-acoustic guitars that he makes and can occasionally be heard busking on the streets of his home town Bath and has performed at the Bath Fringe Festival
Bath Fringe Festival
The Bath Fringe Festival is an annual art festival, held in Bath, England.Bath Fringe was founded in 1981 as a counterbalance to the 'classical'-dominated Bath Music Festival, which some people perceived to be elitist and out-of-touch with what a younger local audience wanted...
. Several short films by Jeremy Broun on furniture design/making are published on You Tube. In 2009 he was elected a Fellow of The Royal Society of Arts.
External links
- Woodomain website
- A film clip of Furniture Today
- A film clip of 21st Century Furniture
- A film clip of Jeremy Broun at Bath Fringe Festival 2009
List of selected books by Jeremy Broun
- Electric Woodwork: Power Tool Woodworking (ISBN 0-946819-26-2)
- The Encyclopedia of Woodworking Techniques (ISBN 0-7472-7845-8)
- The Incredible Router (ISBN 0-946819-17-3)
- Woodwork Now: The Best of Old and New Methods (ISBN 0-7134-7269-3)
- The Revised Bespoke Edition of The Incredible Router" + CD-Rom. Published 2007.
- Alan Peters - The Makers' Maker. Published 2009.