About the Dora Collection
This alluring collection is named after Jim's late grandmother Dora, who immmigrated from Holland with her family when she was only seven years old. She was one of the millions that ventured through Ellis Island just before the First World War.
After travelling to California when she was a teenager (by herself) and working there for several years, she moved back to Waukegun,Illinois where her family had settled. She later married his grandfather Otto.
The Dora Collection has been
in development for quite some time. After trying several protypes
to develop a cabinet with curved sides, Jim came across a line drawing
of a Japanese Torii gate (a symbol for leaving the physical world
and entering the spiritual). Falling in love with the form and the
proportions, he applied it to the cabinet he was working on.
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| The Torii Gate is a Japanese symbol for leaving the physical world and entering the spiritual world. |
The cabinet was a success. Jim began to expand this motif into a collection of furniture. His desire was to achieve an aesthetic that was a little softer, curvaceous and more feminine.
Believing that there is an interesting thread that runs through the history of furniture design. He began his career making furniture inspired from the Shakers and Gustav Stickley (the Otto Collection), which later evolved into the Dora Collection.