David Pye

David Pye (1914–1993) was a furniture maker and Professor of Furniture Design at the Royal College of Art. His book The Nature and Art of Workmanship (1968) gave craft a vocabulary it lacked.

His central distinction: the workmanship of risk versus the workmanship of certainty. In the workmanship of risk, the outcome depends on the maker’s judgment and dexterity at the moment of execution — one slip ruins the piece. In the workmanship of certainty (manufacturing, jigs, automation), the outcome is predetermined; the worker can’t spoil it or improve it.

Neither is inherently better. But risk is where virtuosity lives. The handmade object carries evidence of decisions made under uncertainty. That’s what gives it life — and why machine perfection often feels dead.

Related: [[workmanship-of-risk]], [[craft]], [[the-jig]], [[constraints]]