Is the Weeks Rocker a Copy of the Maloof Rocker?

Mr. Sam Maloof is the designer of a rocking chair of well-deserved renown.  The lines and details are intensely distinctive and flawlessly executed.  The chair is High Art — praised and priced as such.

Occasionally people comment that my rocking chair resembles Mr. Maloof's and ask if it is a copy or a derivative.  The Weeks Rocker and the Maloof Rocker have horizontal headrests, arms extending from back leg to front leg, vertical back supports, scooped solid wood seats, turned front legs, and the basic proportions of a human being sitting down.  In addition to this collection of elements that they share with many, many chairs, they both have rockers.  So, indeed, there is a resemblance.  And, because there are so many copies of the Maloof Rocking Chair being made, perhaps it is understandable that some would assume that the Weeks Rocker is a copy also.  It isn't.  Nor is it a derivative.  However, Mr. Maloof is an impeccable craftsman and famously kind and generous:  his character I am respectfully inspired to emulate.

When I compare the two rocking chairs, looking beyond the obvious and inherent resemblance, I see very different solutions to the problems presented to the designer of a rocking chair by the requirements of comfort, construction, and decoration.

Maloof Rocker	Weeks Rocker

For example, let us compare chair arms.

I could compare and chart every part of the Weeks Rocker and the Maloof Rocker to the same result.  The differences far exceed the shared elements, and the differences are fundamental, not superficial.  The differences result from different design criteria, different solutions to the inherent problems, and different aesthetics.  (Please see Designing the Weeks Rocker.)

While I admire the Maloof Rocker for its originality and its unquestionable status as art, I don't like it as a chair.  It is too sharp and edgy, and too darkly aloof, for me.  My first thought when I saw one was, "That looks like something Darth Vader would sit in."