KIRKHAMFurniture-Making1982.pdf

The difficult times experienced by many craftsmen in the 1830s
and 40s accelerated the division of labour within fancy cabinet-making.
The pressure to produce ever cheaper cheap luxuries' led to scamped work
and the expansion of fancy cabinet-making took place in the
sector of furniture-making. Employers in the cheap trade encouraged the
division of labour because it kept work people dependent 71 . If their
'hand was (a trade term for out of practice) then workers were less
likely to leave if threatened with wage reductions. After 1830, some
fancy cabinet-makers made only one particular item such as work-boxes or
desks 72 . The two main sub-divisions by mid-century were dressing case-
making and desk-making 73 . Even within desk-making there was a division
of labour with some men working only at portable desk-making 74 but, because
the term 'fancy' so often obscures a precise definition of the type of
work undertaken, it is difficult to know how many sub-divisions operated
within fancy cabinet-making.
Although most fancy cabinet-work involved veneering, some work
was made out of solid wood 75 . The latter, which was always less common,
required more skill since veneers could not be used to cover up bad
workmanship. The demand for desks and writing-boxes made in solid wood,
particularly walnut, increased in the 1840s and there was some specialisation
between the two types of work because few fancy cabinet-makers could work
as quickly at the one as they could at the other. The employers, however,
generally expected a workman to be able to turn his hand to both veneer
and solid work as and when it was required76.
By mid-century there was another division of labour. The interiors
of fancy items such as cases and boxes were fitted up by a separate group of
workers, some of whom served seven-year apprenticeships 77 . This task was
itself sub-divided. The people who made the interiors of work-boxes were
known as pineworkers while those who made the compartments to go inside
30