Joshua Saltman

The works of Joshua Saltman are shaped by a confluence of four trends: family background in furniture; educational involvement in the arts; commercial design and manufacturing; and, preservation of forest ecological environments. 

Beginning in 1923, Brown-Saltman of California commenced furniture production in Los Angeles. In 1939, David Saltman became enamored with the modern designs of Paul Frankl and together they began to mass-produce lines of contemporary furniture. Percy Solotoy took over the operations in 1942 and expanded the modernist direction by adding the lines of John Keal, Henrick Van Keppel and Paul Laszlo. These iconic pieces, focused on the beauty of natural wood grains and minimalist lines, are seeds that germinated into what is now termed “50’s post-modern furniture”. 

In the 1960’s a new tradition of design exploration burgeoned in Southern California now known as the Arts and Crafts movement. A few of the notable proponents in furniture are Sam Maloof, George Nakashima and Art Carpenter. These works emphasize handcrafted production with a focus on natural beauty of the wood. They incorporate traditional Japanese joinery and contemporary Scandinavian handcraft styles to create works that transcend artificial boundaries separating craft from art and furniture from sculpture.  

Joshua grew up in a Buff-Straub-Hensman home furnished entirely with these pieces, experienced the new introductions annually at the Los Angeles Furniture Mart, worked summers in factory production and experienced a year’s apprenticeship in the Maloof studio; thus, a truth to the colloquial expression, sawdust in the blood. 

Educational experience is the second stream in the comprehensive development. This is a combination of undergraduate focus on Oriental art and Chinese language backed by work and travel in the Far East. Eighteen months as writer and translator for the National Palace Museum in Taiwan was followed by countless number of overseas trips for business and pleasure. There has always been an eye out for design inspiration, be it expressed in art or architectural creations. 

The third river is over four decades with furniture design, manufacturing and importing focused on commercial markets. Form and function have to be adapted to integrate manufacturing processes and economic material utilization. During this phase Joshua invented the Jewelry Armoire (inspired by the function of antique Chinese cosmetics boxes), which sold over two million units and became a ubiquitous furniture category for all major furniture retailers in the USA. This experience instilled invaluable knowledge to link product development with retail and wholesale demands. 

The fourth wave is now in motion partnering with La Dorada Forest Preserve to create a program to harvest and mill native California species of oak, walnut, Doug fir, cedar and redwood. Our objective is to selectively cull an old growth forest to reduce fuels and thus fire potential.  Simultaneously this deliberate removal opens the upper canopy to enhance healthy regeneration of new trees and create natural openings for native wildlife populations. The materials from this effort are then utilized to construct unique lines of furniture. This model of sustainably harvested, solar kiln processed, and domestically produced furniture, literally from forest to table, minimizes the carbon footprint of manufacturing.  At the same time, we create local jobs and engage a new generation in the beauty of furniture craftsmanship. 

Joshua now builds exclusive pieces created under the Saltman by Hand line in his home workshop. Hand made solid wood furniture collections are inspired by the legacy of Brown-Saltman, Sam Maloof, and a lifetime of studying Asian architecture and crafts. These influences are expressed through the lens of post 50’s modernism and the American craft movement of the 60’s and 70’s. Design emphasis is on flowing lines, contrasting hard edges and soft surfaces, integrated joinery and the inherent poetry of wood grains. A line of sculptural bowls emerged to utilize asymmetric, highly figured cuts remaining from wood milling and furniture production. Wood is a valuable commodity and with a bit of imagination the scraps become treasure, not land fill. Crisp profile lines accentuate architectural forms. A perception of visual weight is contradicted by paper-thin structure carved or lathe turned to eliminate material mass.