Kamaros Traditional Artisanship of Woodcarved Furniture from Agiasos of Lesvos

Traditional Handmade Furniture made with your own taste.

In Agiasos , a village on Lesvos island built at an altitude of 450 meters where wood is plentiful and the cultural curiosity of its occupants is high, the art of wood carving was born in the beginning of the 18th century. The influence of Byzantine Art and the Near East Hellenism has made it into a unique traditional form of art which has made an effect on the whole island and also its trade associations. In the years between 1920 and 1940 the last woodcarvers are lost as the bad economic state of the country does not allow a wide demand of woodcarvings.

In 1947 Dimitris Kamaros, who’s great grandfather (Father Haralampos Papaharalampou) and grandfather (Stylianos Skanellis) were woodcarvers, his father (Haralampos Kamaros) a stonemason and later on his father in law (Georgios Kontos) a carpenter, sets up a small workshop and begins making furniture, in parts of which he embeds traditional wood carved designs while at the same time creating his own special “writing”. His reputation exceeds the boundaries of the island and his furniture travels to the whole of Greece and beyond, practically around the world. In the years that followed, with the help of his apprentices, the business managed to expand its activities and update   with the equivalent machinery, aiming at the best possible quality and the preservation of the value of handmade furniture.

In 1996 the founder retires and his son Haralampos Kamaros takes his place, who even as a schoolboy practices his father’s art. These last few years , with his two associates leaving as they reach retirement, he continues to create traditional handmade furniture and objects with help of his family and father.
  The business’s activity is large. It produces:
•    traditional home furniture of all kinds (chests, consoles, mirrors, lounges, dining rooms, bedrooms, buffets, wardrobes, traditional doors etc.) office furniture (desks, bookcases etc.) for conference rooms (chairs, conference tables)
•    small objects (jewelry boxes, backgammons, table and wall clocks, religious icons, stools etc.)
•    ecclesiastical woodcarvings such as temples, bishopric thrones, kneeling-desks, absorbent candlesticks, candle counters, stalls, reliquaries etc.

The wood that is most used is that of the walnut tree which traditionally grows in the area and also beech, oak and basswood. The designs for the various furniture, usually come from old furniture that exists on the island. There is also the possibility to modify them to meet the clients’ demands which is why they are usually made by request. Careful consideration is taken when it comes to old spaces, especially ecclesiastical ones, as the new and old furniture must bled seamlessly