Oral history interview with Silas Kopf
odd: label: General
content: Originally recorded on 3 compact discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 4 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hr., 54 min.
name: label: Interviewee
content: Kopf, Silas
label: Interviewer
content: Cooke, Edward S., 1954-
label: Creator
content: Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America
label: Names
content: Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America
topic: label: Topic
content: Art -- Economic aspects
label: Topic
content: Woodworkers -- Massachusetts -- Interviews
label: Topic
content: Furniture designers -- Massachusetts -- Interviews
label: Topic
content: Decorative arts
label: Topic
content: Furniture making
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.
creator: label: Interviewee
content: Kopf, Silas
label: Interviewer
content: Cooke, Edward S., 1954-
label: Creator
content: Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Silas Kopf (1949- ) is a woodworker and furniture maker from Northampton, Massachusetts. Edward S. Cooke, Jr., is an art historian and professor in New Haven, Connecticut.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 60 Pages (Transcript)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 2004 October 1
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.kopf04
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Pages
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
label: Type
content: Interviews
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: Transcript available on line.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: An interview of Silas Kopf conducted 2004 October 1, by Edward S. Cooke, Jr., for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, in Northampton, Massachusetts.
label: Scope and Contents
content: Kopf speaks of growing up in Warren, Pennsylvania.; being interested in drawing as a child; getting a degree in architecture at Princeton University; visiting Richard Newman at his studio; moving to Rochester and taking classes in woodworking; working for Wendell Castle's studio and the projects they worked on at the time; trying to find his own style and deciding to make marquetry furniture; setting up his own shop; his early influences; moving to Easthampton; working at the Leeds Design Workshop; selling his early works in galleries; traveling to Italy to look at Renaissance intarsia panels; exploring portraiture and trompe l'oeil styles; choosing furniture designs; hiring assistants; taking part in the Woodworker's Alliance for Rainforest Protection; pricing his work; working on commission; and teaching workshops. Kopf also speaks of his favorite furniture pieces; participating in exhibitions; how the market and interest in studio furniture has changed; and visiting France on a fellowship. Kopf recalls George Nakashima, Stephen Proctor, James Krenov, and others.