Knysna,Western Cape– Originally established in 1962 by Hertzog and Anna Kluyts, Kluyts & Co quickly became renowned for their careful management, skilled craftsmanship and passion for quality furniture. These core values remain today, under the management of Torquil Mathewson with many of the original staff continuing to guide and teach the next generation of cabinet makers.
Kluyts & Co have grown to become a respected name inSouth Africaand now send fine furniture as far away as Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom. This November sees the launch of the much anticipated Kluyts Collection, designed by George Hay.
This contemporary collection was created to broaden Kluyts & Company’s appeal and to leverage their skilled workforce into other areas of cabinet making. Each piece has been individually designed by George Hay and promises to challenge most people’s perceptions of this established brand.
The collection makes use of factory off-cuts in rare timbers that would otherwise not be used, making the each piece unique and very sustainable.
“We will always make classical furniture in theCapeDutchstyle but I hope we stretch ourselves and challenge our customers with some stunning, arresting contemporary furniture too. George Hay just keeps bringing me new and interesting designs, so watch this space, as I am convinced the design world will recognise that he has something different to offer very soon” states Torquil.
- FSC Notes: Most of Kluyts’ wood comes from theKnysnaForest–South Africa’s largest indigenous forest. At 3100km2 the forest is vast and sometimes so dense that horses are used to extract the timber. 9200ha of indigenous forest from Saasveld (George) to Witelsbos (Tsitsikamma) is classed as a Timber Utilisation Area and allocated for harvesting. Timber is harvested from 6300ha, of the total 9200ha, split into ten-year cycles with 560-700ha harvested each year. Strict harvesting criteria, including crown dieback, loss of main shoot, basal rot or stem rot, and natural factors such as storm damage, make timber extraction complex but ensure sustainability of this unique habitat.
- The Kluyts & Co Showroom is situated at18 Grey Street, Knysna
- The new Kluyts Collection is being launched with a private preview on the 17th of November, for more information regarding the preview please contact Lance Liebenberg on lance@lanceliebenberg.com
Q&A with Torquil Mathewson, Managing Director, Kluyts & Co, Knysna
1. How did you get involved in Kluyts?
Initially Kluyts did all the internal carpentry for my Pezula residence and made all the furniture, some of which I designed, for the house. I was enthralled that there were still businesses like Kluyts without a computer in sight and where the skill set was so entrenched after nearly 50 years of cabinet-making. I became friendly with the Kluyt’s family and when the opportunity arose, I decided to buy the business outright and move to this amazing country.
2. Where did your passion for design and furniture come from?
I have collected antique furniture for many years – mainly Danish and some English Art Deco (I have a superb Ray Hille dining set in Burr Walnut). I try and collect Danish designers like Henning Coppel for Georg Jensen silver, but it is not about the designers. If I like a piece of furniture it is about the design and the quality of craftsmanship that is innate to that piece. InScotland, where I hail from, there are many antique shops where you can find items of genuine quality for very reasonable amounts of money.
3. How would you describe great design?
Firstly great design does not date. It remains relevant and visually striking, and it must also work. Fulfilling a practical purpose with elegance and simplicity is the key to it. Just look at an Eames office chair or a Wegner wishbone chair that was designed in 1950 and which is still being copied by a certain South African furniture retailer in 2011. These chairs are extremely comfortable as well as being beautiful to look at.
4. Can you tell us more about the wood that you use, and why?
The wood we use here in Knysna is unique to this area of the world and rarer than many South Africans realise. This timber is sourced sustainably from a protected and wild habitat and many of the indigenous timbers have incredible grain and colourings to them that you just do not find in European timber species. They are difficult to make furniture out of too due to the differentiated grain and colours and so expert matching of planks and using timber from the same tree per item is important.
5. Does Kluyts subscribe to sustainable practices and how?
Put simply, we manufacture from local woods we dry and season ourselves and everything we do is done by us here in Knysna. With George’s latest range we decided to look at the off-cuts we were not using and George came up with some designs that would utilise these pieces of superb timber. The results are amazing.
6. Why did you feel the need to create a new contemporary collection, and what drew you to George Hay?
We need to broaden our appeal and leverage a skilled workforce into other areas of cabinet making. George’s designs are unique and the marriage of our manufacturing capabilities and his eye for design has a lot of potential. He has genuine ability as a designer – I am sure in many different contexts, but his love of wood and the creative process drew him to us and we have not looked back! He is a down to earth gentleman too and we have enjoyed working together and he has many many designs – these are but a few we have had time to make.
7. What makes the new Kluyts Collection by George Hay so unique?
Two things – firstly he uses only the rarest timber, but uses off-cuts that would otherwise not be used – hence adding to our sustainable credentials. Secondly, the designs are unconventional and modern, but extremely high quality. We were aiming to create heirloom pieces that collectors would go for, and which the quality of the material matched the quality of the design. This is not always the case with well-designed modern furniture, but it is here.
8. How do you think the market is going to react to the new Kluyts Collection?
With surprise! We are known for our high-quality, but this reputation is predicated upon aCapeDutchaesthetic. A few eyebrows will be raised I am sure.
9. Where do you see the Kluyts brand and the new Kluyts Collection in the future?
We will always make classical furniture in theCapeDutchstyle but I hope we stretch ourselves and challenge our customers with some stunning, arresting contemporary furniture too. George Hay just keeps bringing me new and interesting pieces, so watch this space, as I am convinced the design world will recognise that he has something different to offer very soon.
Q&A with George Hay, Designer of the new Kluyts Collection
1. How did you get involved in Kluyts?
This is quite a romantic story! A few months ago I was in search of someone, anyone that may be in a position to help with a design project. After months of no luck and dead ends, there was no way my design was going to surface. I decided to dump the project and walk away. As I turned around, I saw a truck full of really beautiful wood being delivered to a house, so I followed it and met Theo Kluyts who suggested I meet with Torquil Mathewson. Before I actually sat down with Torquil I was whipped around the factory, and immediately recognised that we share the same authentic passion for furniture and respect for the craft. The rest of the story is wood shavings and saw dust!!!
2. Where did your passion for design and furniture come from?
It started in high school inEdinburghwhen I won a Lighting & Design competition, part of the prize being a ticket to theLondon100% Design Show. The strangest thing about this particular event is that I met a designer at his stand who had just graduated from university. I showed him the finished photographs of the light I produced, and in this moment my passion for creativity came to light. The student’s project and mine were exactly the same concept, just in different choice of materials. It was one of those hair-raising moments.
3. How would you describe great design?
Is it design or is it art? Furniture Artist George Hay; Furniture Artist Peter Harvey of London with the Smile Chair; Furniture Artist and Architect Ron Arad; Artists Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth and furniture designer Charles Eames’s with his white Chaise Lounge (the one with the hole in it). These are not trends. It is my opinion that these people made considerable contribution to art and design which is still relevant today and will be tomorrow.
4. Can you tell us more about the wood you use, and why?
Since working at Kluyts I have started to develop a deeper respect for these rare indigenous timbers, and have become very aware of how I make use of each valuable piece. Working with the carpenters, some of whom have been there for as long as 25 years, has also given me a new understanding and a new found respect for the traditional furniture being created.
5. Do you subscribe to sustainable practices and how?
Yes. On my initial tour of the factory, Torquil showed me the huge volume of off-cuts and we decided then to create furniture pieces with these. It took about two weeks to sink in just how much material there is available to work with. As the ideas start to flow, I cannot help but come up with new designs constantly. The off-cuts hardly touch the floor before I have claimed them. Under my work table I have all sorts of projects pending. The aim is to create furniture to the point that only sawdust and furniture leave the factory, hence as little waste as possible. To me, that’s a very important and basic sustainable practice.
6. Where does your inspiration for the new Kluyts Collection stem from?
The sights, sounds, smells of the wood and the oil and the movement of people working together forms a magnificent energy and vibration. The designs manifested are determined by the weight, shape and thickness of the available wood. If there is a curve in the design, I will select a piece of wood with the closest shape, or machine it to the closest thickness, trying to utilise all the wood as efficiently as possible. This is a major contribution to the outcome of the design.
7. What makes the new Kluyts Collection by George Hay so unique?
As a furniture artist I work backwards – create first then draw. These are once-off or limited reproduction pieces, for now. Most of the time ideas are influenced by the shape, colour and grain of the wood. Therefore the outcome is always unique
8. How do you think the market is going to react to the new Kluyts Collection by George Hay?
Hmm … It has curves?? No straight lines? What??? Wow! WHAT HAPPENED??!!
9. Where do you see yourself in the future?
Japan working with bamboo, Brazil learning about their indigenous timbers, exhibiting in the London Design Museum and at the Milan Furniture Fair, attending the Ligna Fair in Germany to share ideas with other designers.
All of my mentors have left their mark and their contribution to the creative world and I would love to follow in their footsteps. PS: and have a cup of coffee and a chat with John Makepeace (Google him!).
