SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
Renowned furniture designer and maker Thomas Moser died this past Wednesday. He was 90 years old. NPR's Chloe Veltman reports Moser's company created furniture for U.S. presidents and popes.
CHLOE VELTMAN, BYLINE: For more than 50 years, Thomas Moser furniture has become known around the world for its craftsmanship and use of sustainable materials. A recent video on the company's YouTube channel describes the process in which the furniture is made at its headquarters in Auburn, Maine.
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UNIDENTIFIED NARRATOR: When the final handwork on a piece of furniture is complete, it's signed by the craftsperson who brought it to life.
VELTMAN: Moser's wooden furnishings are understated and elegant, with clean modern lines. At the same time, they are steeped in history. Moser talked about the influence of traditions like Shaker furniture on his work in a 2010 interview for the former NPR From Scratch podcast. The Shaker Christian sects' minimalist wooden tables, chests of drawers and chairs drew on principles of simplicity, honesty and utility.
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THOMAS MOSER: What makes beauty, in my world, is that which serves. And if it doesn't have a functional component, a strong sense of utility, I am not interested in it.
VELTMAN: Thomas Moser furniture's marriage of beauty and utility made it popular in high places. The company furnished the George W. Bush presidential library and archives, provided ceremonial seating for Pope Benedict and designed a rocking chair for President Jimmy Carter. But its work also has broader appeal. Rosanne Somerson is a furniture designer and maker who cofounded the Rhode Island School of Design.
ROSANNE SOMERSON: People saw purchasing a Thomas Moser piece as purchasing a kind of legacy object that would stay within their family or their realm for a long time to come.
VELTMAN: Moser loved making things as a child, but he only got into the furniture business well into his 30s. His son, Aaron Moser, says his dad was a high school dropout who lost both of his parents to cancer when he was in his teens growing up near Chicago.
AARON MOSER: That left him a bit rebellious, I suppose.
VELTMAN: Moser went into the military, traveled the world, earned a Ph.D. in communications and got a teaching job at Bates College in Maine. He married his childhood sweetheart. Aaron Moser says his parents had four sons and needed to supplement their income, so they decided to get creative by fixing up antiques.
A MOSER: They would find an old chair or a dresser on the side of the road, and they'd take it apart and put it back together again.
VELTMAN: Moser eventually started making his own pieces. He founded Thos. Moser Furniture in 1972. The family sold the business to a holding company in January. The new management says it will preserve Thomas Moser's legacy. Chloe Veltman, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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