CROWN OF THORNS joinery is a near-extinct woodworking technique from the "tramp art" tradition, practiced by itinerant craftsmen in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Working with salvaged cigar boxes, these artists created intricate notched sticks that interlock at right angles, forming repeating, self-supporting, prickly structures.
CROWN OF THORNS joinery is a near-extinct woodworking technique from the "tramp art" tradition, practiced by itinerant craftsmen in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Working with salvaged cigar boxes, these artists created intricate notched sticks that interlock at right angles, forming repeating, self-supporting, prickly structures.
With no surviving instructions, I have spent the past year reverse-engineering the technique from historical photographs and auction house archives. Each notched stick is carved and assembled meticulously by hand, with every design composed of hundreds, sometimes thousands, of individual pieces.
My work focuses on reorienting the traditional CROWN OF THORNS style by bringing it into contemporary context. Through designing novel objects, I aim to point the craft toward a living, practical future.
With no surviving instructions, I have spent the past year reverse-engineering the technique from historical photographs and auction house archives. Each notched stick is carved and assembled meticulously by hand, with every design composed of hundreds, sometimes thousands, of individual pieces.
My work focuses on reorienting the traditional CROWN OF THORNS style by bringing it into contemporary context. Through designing novel objects, I aim to point the craft toward a living, practical future.
