Thomas Molesworth, were he alive today, would be both proud and amazed at the influence his Shoshone Furniture Company and the Cody artists' colony he inspired would have on his old hometown and the Western Design movement seventy-two years after he started producing furniture. Based on nearly two decades of buying, selling, pursuing, and researching Molesworth furniture, Terry Winchell has created a definitive book that covers all spectrums of Molesworth's work, including the influence of the other artists who made his style unique, as well as stylistically and financially successful. The fact that Molesworth's furniture career spanned thirty-plus years speaks for itself.

 

An excellent guide for collectors of Molesworth's work, this book is also an invaluable resource for fans of the Western Design movement.

Just as Gustav Stickley was influenced by John Ruskin and William Morris, Molesworth was certainly influenced by the Stickleys and others in the Arts and Crafts movement. Molesworth's early training at the Art Institute of Chicago as well as the influence of the Arts and Crafts movement are apparent in the simplicity and balance of his designs--yet he went a step further by using silhouettes, bright colors, and Native American motifs to personalize his efforts. He was not satisfied to stop there, however. Molesworth showcases furniture on display at the Buffalo Bill Historic Center (Cody, WY), the Museum of the American West (Los Angeles, CA), the Bear Butte Visitors' Center (Sturgis, SD), and Yawkay Plantation (Georgetown, SC), among many other locations.

Chapters cover Molesworth's career, education, and the development of his furniture company.

 

About the Author:
Terry Winchell has dealt in antiques for more than twenty-four years as owner of Fighting Bear Antiques in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. He is a recognized authority on rustic and Thomas Molesworth furniture, has performed museum appraisals for the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyoming, and has consulted for the John Toomey Gallery in Chicago and Christie's in New York. Winchell has been published in Architectural Digest, Art & Antiques, and Cowboys & Indians, and has been featured on HGTV, the BBC, and Antiques Roadshow. Most recently, Winchell was a featured speaker at the Third Annual Arts and Crafts Weekend Conference and Show in Anaheim, California. He graduated from the University of Nebraska with a degree in business administration.

 

About the Photographer:
W. Garth Dowling has been working in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, since coming to work for the Jackson Hole News as chief photographer in 1991. Originally from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Garth studied photography at the University of Missouri's School of Journalism, graduating magna cum laude in 1988. After seven years with the Jackson newspaper, Garth chose to pursue architectural photography. His work has appeared in the following magazines: Southwest Art, Western Interiors and Design and Cowboys & Indians. In addition to being an active photojournalist, Garth is also a frequent contributing writer/photographer for Boys' Life magazine and a participant in the America 24/7 book project. When not making photographs, Garth does whatever his dog tells him to do.

 

Hardcover. 256 pages.