Artisans of Dartmoor - Book - Page 71
in Peterborough, before relocating to Dartmoor in
1993. Resolutely old-school – Stuart has no website or
social media feed, and barely uses email, preferring his
landline – and his methods are similarly traditional. “I
like to use the appropriate techniques for the period
of the piece I’m working on,” he says. That means
different stitching types, tensions, seat firmness and
materials: Georgian pieces, for example, demand wool
and linen; while for Victorian, it’s jute and cotton.
Chamber music is his go-to soundtrack when he’s
focusing on period pieces, but he’ll often play house
tunes when he’s working on contemporary furniture.
Musically minded, he says that webbing, when
stretched to the right tension, “should twang with a
perfect B-flat”.
Stuart loves Georgian furniture for its “perfect
proportions”, Victorian “for the curliness and pomp”
and the “very Scandi” look of Arne Jacobsen. “I like
fabric to be true to the period of the chair itself, but
I also love very audacious modern fabric on antique
furniture because it bucks the endless trend of dusky
rose velvet and damasks.” He’s also a fan of today’s
fashion for leaving chairs artfully stripped back
“because it gives people the chance to get to appreciate
the secret life of chairs that’s usually hidden from
view. It reveals the real skill behind upholstery and
furniture making.”
The most memorable antique pieces he has
worked on include a 1640 walnut chair, two original
1770 Chippendale cockpen armchairs and 18
painted Italian chairs dating from the early 1700s,
four of which turned out to be fakes. “They were
excellent copies and had me fooled until I got inside
them,” he says.
Quirky commissions have included chopper
motorbike seats for a gang of Hells Angels and a chair
covered entirely in scouring pads, which “was softer
than you’d imagine”. He also makes furniture from
scratch, such as headboards, footstools and sofas. He
even made his own bed mattress.
For anyone sending a piece of furniture to be
reupholstered, Stuart has a word of warning: “Beware
of mid-century seating. It’s the most capacious and
easiest to lose things down the back of, and in this
business, it’s finders keepers.”
The Upholsterer • Stuart Coote
71
