HICK’S BOBCAT PRESS, MODEL 1 & 2
These presses are modeled after a 17th-century army field press and are based on a 17th-century British manual on the printing arts. The base has built-in type drawers, making it easy to transport all the supplies with the press. It was built in the old-fashioned way. The press is made of Honduras mahogany with a steel-lined coffin and bronze-cast hardware. Richard Hicks hand-cast the bronze hardware and decorative features himself.
Hicks (1922-2012) was a prolific craftsman and woodworker who built around 30 presses, most of which are located in institutions and private collections around the world. He built his first Bobcat press in 1975 and continued working until he died in 2012. The work was slow-moving due to a wound he sustained in WWII, but it brought him a great amount of joy.
