The Manning Rare Woods Collection was donated to the Rhode Island School of Design in 1974, but contains pieces of lumber collected as early as the 1920’s. The collection of large, figured, or rare kiln-dried lumber was a private “mania” of Providence cabinetmaker named “Keyser” – a man who by all accounts was extremely proud of this life-long collection and rarely sold any unless he deemed the project worthy. Keyser boasted to have over 115 varieties of wood and be “the only person anywhere in the United States who owned Madeira mahogany.”
“Madeira” is a variety that, as far as our investigation has revealed, doesn’t really exist. “Madeira,” Portuguese meaning “timber” or more broadly “material” is also the name of a Portuguese island frequented by importers before crossing the Atlantic with goods extracted from Africa and the Mediterranean.
Keyser, an eccentric, but also someone who deeply loved spending time with his collection - would go to his warehouse on Sunday mornings and greet each variety of wood with “How are you today?”
Madeira/Timber
Necklace with Fabricated box
“Madeira” Mahogany
2023
