Arthur Espenet Carpenter in his studio, c. 1975. Courtesy of Arthur Espenet Carpenter.
The reluctant sage of Bay Area craft, Arthur Espenet Carpenter was one of the war generation, having served in the navy. After an abortive career as an Asian goods importer, he began to make hand-turned bowls, and then anticipated the “back to the land” movement in 1957 by moving to the small community of Bolinas, California (not far from J. B. Blunk’s home in Inverness). There, at the edge of a redwood forest, Carpenter constructed his own home and studio in pastoral-modernist style. This was the aesthetic of his furniture, too. It took its lines from Scandinavian design but was executed in a warm, woodsy manner.
In the 1960s, young aspirant craftspeople—the taciturn Carpenter referred to them as “hippie-dippie types”—began to seek him out. He trained several of them in his own idiosyncratic style, which earned the term “California roundover” for its soft edges. While Carpenter’s work became more refined in later years, incorporating purpleheart and other exotic woods, it was the unstudied simplicity of his life and work that most earned him the reverence of younger makers.
Carved walnut and brass six bottle wine rack. Designed by Arthur Espenet Carpenter, 1967.
12” L x 8” W x 17” H
30.5cm L x 20.3cm W x 43.2cm H
SM7932