Below are a few commissions of new furniture. They all started with an idea of what the client wants and in what style. As a furniture historian, my aesthetic is not limited to one period or style. Rather, I find beauty in most styles. Yet my experience as a restorer informs my methods of joinery and finish so that the design takes into account modern living.
Some objects, as in the cabinet above, was made to house a television, but the joinery is typical 18th Century mortise-and-tenon and dovetail construction.
For more information on some of the objects, click on the image.
One of the few times I used true Honduras mahogany for a commission. The finishing took almost as long as the building!
Built to house a plasma screen TV, the case has a separate back compartment to house cooling fans and remote access to stereo, DVD, and TV functions.
On this commission, I worked with the carpenters on the job assisting with implementing an idea into a working design and executing it. They built it with some help from me and I finished it. The most interesting part was incorporating these antique dog sculptures into the design.
This project started with a client having three slabs of walnut cut by their grandfather. Two became the top and the other the slab leg.
This design was a collaboration between the client, a decorator, and me. While I did not have access to a flitch or boulle of wood, I was able to find a number of sequential boards that allowed me to arrange the parts artfully.
An oval trestle table is a rarity, but this space called for just that. Inspired by Shaker and Arts-and-Crafts styles, a design with straightforward joinery and limited decoration was used. The beveled edges with a lamb's tongue termination was as wild as I got!
This table takes all of two minutes to break down or set up and yet is very rigid.
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