Tage Frid (30 May 1915 – 4 May 2004) was a Danish-born woodworker, educator and author who influenced the development of the studio furniture movement in the United States.
[1] Son of a silversmith, at the age of 13, he started a five-year apprenticeship in Copenhagen followed by work in cabinet shops; worked for nearly a decade at the Royal Danish Cabinetmakers,[2] then spent time in Iceland before immigrating to the United States in 1948 at the request of the American Craft Council.
When teaching, he emphasized a craftsman's need to learn all the available tools and methods one could use to complete a given task.
Frid's students include noted American studio furniture makers such as Hank Gilpin, Jere Osgood,[5] Alphonse Mattia,[6] William Keyser, John Dunnigan, and Rosanne Somerson.
The Permanent collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston owns some of his designs, most of which represent the Danish modern style.