Alan Peters (1933-2009)

Alan Peters was a British furni­ture designer/​maker and one of the very few direct links with the Arts and Crafts Move­ment, having appren­ticed to Edward Barns­ley. He set up his own work­shop in the Sixties. He is well known for his book Cabi­net­mak­ing: A Profes­sional Approach (re-published in 2009) and his revi­sion (for the fourth addi­tion) of Ernest Joyce’s The Tech­nique of Furniture Making.

In 1990, Peters was awarded the OBE for his services to furni­ture. His work is rooted in tradi­tion and shows a deep under­stand­ing and respect for the mate­r­ial. In 2009, fellow furni­ture designer/​maker Jeremy Broun made a film and wrote a book called ​“Alan Peters- The Maker’s Maker”. Peters is consid­ered to be one of the great­est British furni­ture designer/​maker of his generation.

• 1949 – 1956 Appren­ticed to Edward Bamsley, CBE. 
• 1957 – 1959 2 year craft teacher train­ing at Shored­itch College (Distinc­tion)
• 1959 Schol­ar­ship to Central School of Arts and Crafts, London (inte­rior design)
• 1959 Elected to the British Craft Centre, Hay Hill, London. 
• 1962 Estab­lished as a designer and maker of modern craft furniture. 

• 1968 Elected Fellow of Society of Designer Craftsmen. 
• 1975 Crafts Council Bursary to visit Japan
• 1978 Winner of Winsor & Newton Craft Award with desk in Macassar ebony. 
• 1980 Winston Churchill Trav­el­ling Fellow­ship to visit South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong. 
• 1984 Winner of open design compe­ti­tion for dining furni­ture for the British Insur­ance Brokers’ Asso­ci­a­tion, London. 
• 1988 Winner of Centen­nial Medai of the Society of Designer Craftsmen 
• 1990 Awarded QBE for services to furniture design 
• 2000 Acad­e­mi­cian of South West Academy of Fine and Applied Arts 

• 1976 Modern Craft Furni­ture, Harris Centre, Hawkhurst, Kent. 
• 1979 Alan Peters Furni­ture, Bristol Guild, Bristol. 
• 1985 – 1986 Alan Peters Furni­ture Maker, Chel­tenham Art Gallery
• 1986 Fine by Design, Devon Guild Centre, Devon. 
• 1989 Alan Peters Furni­ture, Brew­house Arts Centre, Somerset. 
• 1990 Alan Peters Furni­ture, Bere Regis Gallery, Dorset. 
• 1992 Alan Peters: 30 pieces for 30 years, Bedales Gallery, Hampshire. 

• 1979 ‑1981 Crafts South West: South West Arts exhi­bi­tion, Plymouth
• 1982 The Maker’s Eye: Crafts Council exhi­bi­tion, London
• 1983 A Closer Look at Wood: Crafts Council exhi­bi­tion, London
• 1983 Works in Wood: British Crafts Centre exhi­bi­tion, London
• 1987: After Japan: Midland Arts touring exhibition. 
• 1988 Craft Clas­sics: Crafts Council exhi­bi­tion, London
• 1989 British Design: Central Office of infor­ma­tion exhi­bi­tion, Leipzig
• 1991 Beyond the Dove­tail: Crafts Council exhi­bi­tion, London
• 1991 – 1994 Natural Resources: South West Arts exhi­bi­tion, Dublin
• 1993 ‑1994 The Wood­carver’s Craft: Crafts Council exhi­bi­tion, London
• 1995 ‑1996 Furni­ture Today: Its Design and Craft: Crafts Council exhi­bi­tion, London
• 1995 — 1996 Japan­ese Connec­tions: Corn­wall Crafts Asso­ci­a­tion exhi­bi­tion, Trelowarren
• 1995 — 1996 William Morris Cente­nary Exhi­bi­tion: Whit­wort’n Gallery, Manchester
• 1999 ​“Furni­ture for 21st Century”: Exhi­bi­tion and book launch, Banquet­ing Hall, White­hall, London
• 2000 Crafts 2000: Society of Designer Crafts­men exhi­bi­tion, Mat! Galleries, London

• 1984 Board­room furni­ture, PosTel, London. 
• 1985 ‑1988 Complete furnish­ing of 12th century Fish­er­men’s Chapel, Jersey. 
• 1986 Furnish­ing of Chair­man’s office, Stock Exchange, London. 
• 1993 Ash seating and tables, Plymouth Museum & Art Gallery. 
• 1995 Board­room table and cabi­nets, Lloyds TSB, London. 
• 1996 Oak seating for Earth Gallery, Gallery of Modem Art, Glasgow. 
• 1996 Kelm­scott Chaucer cabinet funded by Keatley Trust. 
• 1996 — 2001 Furnish­ing of Chief Exec­u­tive’s office, Lloyds TSB, London. 

• Victo­ria & Albert Museum, London 
• Crafts Council Collection 
• Chel­tenham Museum & Art Gallery 
• Craft Study Centre, Farnham 
• Leices­ter Museum & Art Gallery 
• Stoke on Trent City Museum & Art Gallery 
• Bristol Museum & Art Gallery 
• Broughton Castle, Banbury 
• Kirkham House, Paignton 
• Plymouth Museum & Art Gallery 
• Glasgow Museum of Modern Art 
• Portsmouth Museum & Art Gallery 
• Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge 

• 1964 — 1968 Part-time lectur­ing at Portsmouth College of Art & Design.
• 1978 — 1988 Visit­ing lecturer, John Make­peace School for Crafts­men in Wood, Parnham.
• 1980 Public lectures in Korea and Taiwan.
• 1981 Lecture tour, USA.
• 1982 — 1983 2nd Year Design Tutor, John Make­peace School, Parnham
• 1984 Lecture tour in New Zealand, Hawaii, Australia and Tasmania.
• 1987 & 1989 Summer schools at Ander­son Ranch, Colorado.
• 1989 Guest speaker at Contem­po­rary Furni­ture Design Sympo­sium, Saskatoon.
• 1989 — 1994 Visit­ing lecturer at Letter­frack College, Co. Galway, Iretand-
• 1995 & 1997 Summer Schools at Centre for Furni­ture Crafts­man­ship, Maine.

• 1984 ​‘Cabi­net­mak­ing — the Profes­sional Approach’ published by Stobart & Son.
• 1987 Revi­sion of ​‘The Tech­nique of Furni­ture Making’ by Ernest Joyce, published by Batsford.