The Don Bosco Institute, Liège
A few months ago I was invited to pay a visit to my
alma mater, the Don Bosco Institute in Liège, where I
received my training as an ornamental woodcarver (between 1986 and 1989). Last
year, the Don Bosco Institute had namely shut down the woodcarving department
and I was asked if I had any interest in taking over some of the educational
material. This way, I was able to safeguard some remnants of this prestigious department.
Among the remnants, I found a small batch of so called
“recueils” (a book or bundle of material) with unique illustrations, compiled
in 1991, by the printing department of this school. These unused recueils,
hidden away in some closet since 1991, are the subject of the day.
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| Le Mobilier au Pays de Liège |
Recueil, Le mobilier au Pays de Liège
'The furniture in the land of Liège'
This bundle or “recueil” talks about the Liège art of
furniture design. A “receuil” is a thematic collection of illustrations, in
this case, depictions of Liège furniture, and is printed on large single pages
(40 x 29 cm) made of heavy quality paper.
The “recueil” was compiled by F. Drugmant, the
woodcarving teacher of the Don Bosco Institute at that time. Professor Drugmant
was not only a woodcarver, but also a connaisseur of Liège furniture, proven by
this amazing recueil, which was used by all of the later teachers, who
apparently never felt the need to update his work or publish their own work.
It is safe to say that this book of reference with
detailed illustrations of Liège furniture was nothing less than a bible and important
guide for those who took woodcarving classes. Unfortunately, the book of
reference was only available for purchase in the woodcarving department and was
never sold in bookstores.
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| A book with pictures of Liège style furniture |
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| Liège stylefurniture of the XVIIIth Century |
I myself have been in possession of this handbook
since 1986, ever since I was a woodcarving student, following this unique
course at the Don Bosco Institute. This “recueil” was published in 1984, with a
second edition in 1991, to which a small number of pages was added. The
dimensions of this book are 40cm x 29cm, meaning that the book is exceptionally
large. It counts 134 single pages. These are all black and white illustrations
of the highest quality and depict all types of Liège furniture, including
close-ups.
I don’t have my “recueil” in front of me on a daily
basis, but several times a year it serves as a source of inspiration; sometimes
to closely observe the construction of a closet and even more often to refresh
my knowledge of certain Liège style periods, hence my “bold” statement that
this is quite an exceptional book of reference.
Should you be interested in this little piece of
Belgian history, I still have a number of copies available for true enthusiasts.
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Closeup photos of Liege Style sculpture and ornaments
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