Court graduated in Architecture from the University of Toronto in 1953, and took over his father’s company Metalsmiths the next year. He quickly turned the small blacksmith’s shop into a modern furniture powerhouse that won national and international awards, was selected to represent Canadian design abroad, and landed prestigious contracts for corporate headquarters, government boardrooms, hotels, airports and universities.

Functionality, aesthetics and durability were what mattered to Court. He searched internationally for skilled employees to build his designs, and in contrast to many (most?) architects he simply refused to build a chair that wasn’t comfortable. In the late 1970s it became much harder to sell such costly furniture, and Court refused to compromise on quality when other firms would copy his designs with inferior materials and processes. Within a few years he sold Metalsmiths, and the firm continued production on a lesser scale.

After moving to Prince Edward County with his wife Pam in 1982, Court turned his architectural skills to the preservation, restoration and reuse of historic buildings, and volunteered on local heritage, arts and landscape groups. Years of exploring the outdoors made him an expert on local flora, and his book Field, Forest, Hedgerow remains the essential guide to County wildflowers.

Court was a true renaissance man who could design, build, refinish, draw, paint, photograph, carve, turn, grow, cook or write about almost anything. At his memorial celebration, I said “He was a father, brother, grandfather, friend, mentor and advocate. A man as strong and independent as they come. An entrepreneur and polymath, a creative genius in the truest sense, and a man more skilled with his hands than anyone has a right to be. He was a man who saw the whole world in a tiny wildflower, a wisp of cloud, or the silhouette of a loon. If Court were here today, he would want us to take a minute to cherish the beauty that we are so lucky to have all around us. It’s what he dedicated his life to creating, sharing with others, and protecting from those who would diminish it.”

These images of Court’s work are taken from his photographic archives. Most were taken by him; some were commissioned, but which ones, and by whom, is unknown.

For more information on Court’s life and work, I highly recommend the book NOXON: Court Noxon, Architect and Industrial Designer, available for purchase from www.dominionmodern.ca.