Journal
The New Gloucester Rocker
A rocking chair emanates nostalgia, a sense of comfort, relaxation, and a lulling quality made for front porches, tucked-away corners, and quiet nurseries. Seemingly encoded in our DNA, this gentle rocking motion has immediate palliative effects. Perhaps that is why, in 1982, a serendipitous commission allowed Tom to explore a design he had been toying with for several years. Above: Thomas Moser hanging the sign of our first Portland Showroom. At this time, we had our showroom in Portland on Cumberland Ave., and there was a wonderful antique store in the Old Port section of town. Well, I walked by the shop window one day, and there was a Windsor-style fan-back chair with a narrow crest and a wide seat. Almost all Windsor chairs are the opposite,” says Thomas Moser. “Well, this fan-back Windsor was the reverse; I had never seen anything like that before, and I can’t say as if I have ever seen anything quite like it again,” says Tom. “That chair really influenced me.” There were several forms Tom could draw inspiration from; a Shaker ladder-back rocker, the Boston Rocker, Salem, or mission-style rockers of California. The most well-known style in New England was the Boston Rocker. Contrary to its name, the first Boston rocker was built in Connecticut around 1825 by a man named Lambert Hitchcock. Hitchcock’s design took the Boston chair, a traditional fan-back style chair, and placed it upon two runners or rockers. The Boston rocker is most notable for its ornate carvings or floral paintings along the crest and decorative turned legs and spindles attached to a curved arm. The Salem rocker followed the Boston rocker in design with a slightly lower back and more angled seat. “I thought,” Tom says, “Why not do a Boston rocker where the spindles come into a smaller crest rail and engulf the sitter?” Other notable refinements to Tom’s “Boston Style” rocker include the floating arm. “I wasn’t particularly interested in creating a sack-back style rocking chair. That is to say, I didn’t want the arms to attach to the back of the chair,” he says. To maintain the light and airy profile, he designed a floating arm attached by wedged tenons to the front three spindles that barely touch the back, giving the illusion that the component is floating atop the spindles. As the chair needed to be big enough to hold a full-grown man, Tom knew he needed to create a wide seat. The seat of the Boston Rocker was narrow and scrolled. “The Salem Rocker had a much flatter and wider seat, and aesthetically, I was drawn to this simpler design,” says Tom. The final refinement to the design was the rockers themselves. Many early rocking chairs had short and thin rockers. Creating a balanced, sculptural, and robust rocker was paramount for a chair designed to withstand years of use. “The Shakers had what was called a suicide rocker. It was a ladder-back chair with very short and thin rockers, and if you went back far enough, you would topple over backward. So the detail in our design brings the chair back to the center, preventing that from happening. This detail exists on all our rockers,” notes Tom. “Since the chair was designed and built in our New Gloucester workshop, we called it the New Gloucester Rocker, and it became one of our signature pieces,” says Tom. The rocking chair, in its somewhat modern-day form, dates back to the early 1700s when the rockers were formed by attaching the blades from ice skates to the bottom of a chair. Since then, the rocking chair, a uniquely American design, has come a long way from its primitive beginnings. Today’s forms are modern and sleek, and complement any decor, creating a timeless heirloom for a contemporary space.
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The Aging Process of Cherry
Cherry furniture deepens from light salmon to rich reddish-brown within months, its unique finish inviting a tactile connection through time and touch.
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Natural Variations Found in North American Hardwood
Discover the natural variations in North American hardwood—aging color, grain patterns, and mineral deposits—that make each Thos. Moser piece unique.
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Coastal Cottage Offers Modern Retreat
The moment you turn down the nearly half-mile private driveway to the Jennings cottage, you know you are about to experience something magical.
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More Than Ink on Wood
Mason Faucher’s eight-year journey at Thos. Moser, starting in 2015, showcases his evolution from a woodworking graduate to a skilled, versatile craftsman.
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A Golden Guide to Interior Design
The Golden Ratio, often seen as the 60/30/10 rule, guides interior design to create balanced, cohesive, and inviting spaces.
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How to Clean Your Hardwood Furniture
We asked Marc LaBonte, head of furniture maintenance, for expert tips on caring for and cleaning our hardwood furniture.
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Living With Intention
For Anne and George, home has always been more than a place to live—it’s a reflection of their values: a space shaped by experience, intentional design, and appreciation for craftsmanship. Their journey with Thomas Moser began in 2005, almost accidentally, when Anne stepped into the Georgetown showroom, drawn to a Vita Chair she saw in the window. Until that day, she had associated the brand with traditional Windsor styles—“Beautiful, but not quite my style,” she admits. But this chair was different: sculptural, graceful, quietly strong. “I was smitten,” Anne recalls, “This was not just a piece of furniture, but a work of art.” She wasn’t expecting to find the centerpiece of their future home that day—but sometimes, the most meaningful connections are the ones we don’t plan. "The interior finish is a vessel to showcse the owner's carefully curated art and furniture." -Charlie Moore, Moore Architects, PC. As with the Vita Chair, their home began with a chance encounter. One day, while out for a drive at the height of the pandemic, the couple spotted a modest property for sale near the Potomac River. The location was prime, and the original house was charming, but it was cramped, dark, and outdated. Enter Charlie Moore of Moore Architects PC. Together with the owners, the team of architects, designers, and builders assembled by Moore Architects set out to create a new home that would do justice to the lot and the owners’ intentions. The goals were to design a dwelling that was large enough without intruding on the neighborhood; to combine modern forms with traditional local styling; and to provide interior spaces for the owners’ sizable art and furniture collections. The resulting collaboration gave birth to an award-winning 4800 square-foot house that serves as the perfect stage for those collections—and for their Thos. Moser furniture, in particular. Above: The open dining area and kitchen feature the Aria Chairs, Oval Ring Dining Table, and Coal Shovel Stools. Below: A custom Crescent Side Hutch in figured maple, Coal Shovel Stools, and an Edo Studio Chair in cherry. “Their favorite Moser piece? “That’s tough,” says Anne. “We really love them all, but for sheer elegance, I’d say the Aria chairs. They’re exquisite.” Primary Bedroom: Vita Bed and Vita Side Cube in cherry. Working with the Georgetown showroom, the couple gradually filled the new house with a remarkable collection of Thos. Moser furniture. Here, old and new Moser pieces blend seamlessly with family heirlooms and with what Anne refers to as “souvenirs” from their years abroad. “I wanted furniture that would stand up to our art and the Moore-designed interiors, without overwhelming or feeling trendy,” says Anne. “What I love about Thos. Moser: I love the beautiful materials, the craftsmanship—the joinery! It’s all about making good things that last. The living room, grounded by rich walnut tones, is warm and invites conversation. In the dining room, a pair of antique French candlesticks feels right at home on the walnut Oval Ring table. A custom-figured maple case sits casually below an early twentieth-century Hawaiian aquatint and across the room from an old family cedar chest. The loft, once just extra space, is now a sanctuary, filled with a Vita Three Place Sofa, Element Credenza, and Cumberland Chair, NYPL Branch Swivel Chair, and the iconic Chaise. In the small spare bedroom, Anne’s mother’s portrait gazes down on the Studio Bed in cherry. The overall effect is interiors that are meaningful, harmonious, and quietly elegant. When asked what guided their furniture selections, Anne explained that her initial criterion was mainly cosmetic: Does it look good? Does it fit the space? “It’s a curse,” she confesses, referring to her connoisseur’s eye. She spent her formative years in Europe, where, as a child, she accompanied her parents to countless galleries, palaces, cathedrals, and gardens. “Too many,” she says. “My mother was a great enthusiast of art and architecture!” “Once you buy your first Thomas Moser piece, it becomes nearly impossible to turn back. The quality, the design, the philosophy behind each creation—it all becomes an essential part of how you experience your home,” says Anne. Above: Custom Crescent Dresser in figured maple. The furniture also had to meet the couple’s high standards of quality and comfort–plus pass the “legacy” test: Would their daughter want the furniture someday? This past fall, they had the chance to answer that question when they offered their original dining table and chairs to their daughter and son-in-law. “What a pleasure it was to sit with them this past Thanksgiving at the very same Moser table and chairs that our daughter grew up with,” says Anne. What’s next for the couple? Nothing too ambitious, they say. They hope to travel and see more of their family and friends, who are scattered here and abroad. “But it’s so nice to have a place to come home to, filled with the things you love.” Including, of course, that first Vita Chair.
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