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Waltner Wood & Wall Designs |
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Custom Furniture & Faux Finishing |
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What it means to us to be Mennonite furniture builders... |
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Yes, we are Mennonites. Primarily for us that is a faith designation (we believe many of the same things other Protestant denominations believe, but place an emphasis on social justice issues like feeding the hungry, housing the homeless and peacemaking. When it comes right down to it, we believe in living our lives as closely as possible to how Jesus lived.) There are some Mennonites who dress differently, live very simply and apart from the rest of society. That is not the type of Mennonites we are. We don’t appear different from our neighbors (well, perhaps we look a little goofier!) And by the way, Jerome’s beard is not a cultural statement...simply a way of keeping his face warm, and Keri happens to like the way it looks! However, we also know that for many people, Mennonite is a cultural designation and when you’re talking about craftsmanship, it carries a certain connotation. Yes, we are very aware of the high reputation Mennonite craftsmen enjoy, and we strive every day to ensure that we uphold that reputation. At the same time, we don’t quite understand the stores that claim to sell “Mennonite Furniture” and it is all Mission in style. This happens to the extent that people come to associate “Mennonite style” with Mission. If you want Mission-style furniture built by Mennonites, that is fine. We can also do that. However, we have recently been working to educate the public to what is truly Mennonite-style furniture. We’ve done quite a bit of research; in fact we took our entire staff to visit the permanent exhibit at the Kauffman Museum in North Newton, KS (http://www.bethelks.edu/kauffman/) on Mennonite heritage furniture. Guess what?? There’s not a mission piece in sight! Instead you’ll see pieces which draw their inspiration largely from the architecture of northern Europe and the Baltic coast, the areas from which large groups of Mennonites immigrated to the US in the late 19th century. If you’ve ever been to Amsterdam, you’ll recognize the features along the tops of these armoires. Because we want to be Mennonites building authentically Mennonite-style furniture, we designed an entire line of Mennonite Heritage furniture. We hope you like these historic pieces as much as we do.
For more information on Mennonite furniture, check out the definitive work: Janzen, Reinhild Kauenhoven and John M. 1991. Mennonite Furniture: A Migrant Tradition (1776-1910). Intercourse, PA: Good Books. |
