Arti­sans’ Tools

Inge­nious devices
Tools always have been objects of great fas­ci­na­tion. Inge­nious devices have been advanced and refined over the mil­len­nia. Today these tools are pro­duced by high­ly-spe­cial­ized com­pa­nies or individuals.

Few arti­sans can func­tion with­out tools. Some, for exam­ple met­al design­ers, man­u­fac­ture their tools them­selves. Tools for arti­sans often are influ­enced by region­al cus­toms and tra­di­tions. Pro­fes­sion­als in the con­struc­tion sec­tor, for exam­ple, work with Hol­stein spades, Frank­furt spades, and Bavar­i­an spades. Diverse cul­tur­al groups also are reflect­ed in the design and employ­ment of tools, for exam­ple, Japan­ese saws start­ed attain­ing a promi­nent sta­tus in Ger­many in the 1990s. Unlike Euro­pean saws, Japan­ese saws only cut on the pull stroke.

Icons and tools for every­day use
The Japan­ese always have placed great cul­tur­al val­ue on man­u­fac­tur­ing spe­cial­ty tools. They regard tools as a means for arti­sans to put their cre­ativ­i­ty into effect. Well designed and tech­ni­cal­ly per­fect tools have become cov­et­ed col­lectibles in Europe. They con­vey the his­to­ry of crafts­man­ship and are wit­ness­es to the cul­ture of crafts. These tools are con­sid­ered to be sym­bol­ic or of a sym­bol­ic cer­e­mo­ni­al nature, for exam­ple, gavels used by judges or auc­tion­eers and ham­mers used only for plac­ing foun­da­tion stones.

Saws, pli­ers, shears, files, knives, ham­mers, mal­lets, and spades
Ded­i­cat­ed to the fas­ci­nat­ing world of arti­sans’ tools, at its Octo­ber exhi­bi­tion Galerie Handw­erk is show­cas­ing a selec­tion of pre­dom­i­nant­ly hand­made saws, pli­ers, shears, files, knives, ham­mers, mal­lets, spades, axes, and brush­es that com­bine good design, intel­li­gence, and excel­lent func­tion­al­i­ty. These devices have been cre­at­ed for wood proces­sors, pro­fes­sion­als in the con­struc­tion indus­try, for­est rangers, gar­den­ers, musi­cal instru­ment mak­ers, ceramists, porce­lain painters, make-up artists, chefs, glass­mak­ers, tai­lors, black­smiths, and goldsmiths.

In the exhi­bi­tion, tool col­lec­tions of Japan­ese ori­gin are jux­ta­posed with col­lec­tions of tools man­u­fac­tured in Europe. The aes­thet­ics, func­tion­al­i­ty and inge­nu­ity of pre­his­toric stone tools are illus­trat­ed in a selec­tion from the Otto Kün­zli collection.

Dates: Octo­ber 18 through Novem­ber 16, 2019
Address: Galerie Handw­erk, Max-Joseph-Straße 4, 80333 Munich, Germany