Meet the makers exhibiting at INSPIRED 2017: John Makepeace

This May (3-6) will see the much-anticipated return of INSPIRED – the luxury contemporary silverware and furniture selling showcase at the Goldsmiths Centre during London Craft Week.

This leading exhibition, now in its fifth year, brings together some of the UK’s finest and up-and-coming silversmiths and furniture makers in one unique curated platform.

As we get ready for the show, in the coming weeks we will be giving you the lowdown on this year’s designer/makers attending and why INSPIRED should be your number one destination for bespoke furniture. This week we find out more about John Makepeace.

John Makepeace first saw fine furniture being made when he was 11, and then he visited the great cabinet makers in Copenhagen as a teenager. Early professional recognition led to his work as a design consultant to the all India Handicraft Board, a founding member of the Crafts Council in the UK and a Trustee of the V&A, London.

In 1976 he bought Parnham House, Dorset and set up a college alongside, but separately from, his own furniture studios. Following the sale of Parnham in 2001, John Makepeace purchased Farrs, a listed house in Beaminster, where he now lives, has his design studio and gallery.

John was awarded an OBE in 1988 for services to furniture design and in 2002 received the American Furniture Society’s Award of Distinction.

John has received Lifetime Achievement Awards from both the American Furniture Society (2004) and the Furniture Makers Company (2010).

He is an Honorary Fellow of the Arts University Bournemouth and of Hereford College of Arts.

In 2016 John was nominated by The Furniture Makers’ Company for the Prince Philip Designers Prize and was awarded the prize for his contribution to design.

www.johnmakepeacefurniture.com

For more information about INSPIRED, go to www.festivalofsilver.co.uk.