Tage Frid Stool

One of the most important designs of the American Studio Furniture Movement. Other than example in the collection of his immediate family and several RISD students, the only known examples are owned by the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, the RISD Museum and The Smithsonian Renwick Collection.
The three-legged stool was one of Frid’s most successful and iconic designs and one he used as an example in the volume dedicated to furniture making. While sitting on a fence at a horse show, Frid was inspired to explore the minimal amount of structure needed to support a grown human. The result was a stool with a seat sixteen inches wide and six inches deep. The stool was made in three heights; this example is the middle height.
A fastidious craftsman, Frid’s stool exhibits a range of construction techniques: the back and seat are sawn and shaped; the back is dovetailed to the seat; the legs and stretchers are shaved; and the legs are through-tenoned to the seat.
Exhibited at: Workbench: The Gallery, “Furniture by Tage Frid,” New York, September 13 – October 28, 1984 SIGNED AND DATED 1983. Purchased by the gallery manager.
Danish-born craftsman Tage Frid influenced generations of American craftsmen though his woodworking courses and his three-volume Tage Frid Teaches Woodworking, which has been in continuous publication since 1979.