Demilune Buffet
This one was definitely filed under "stepping up
to the challenge".
This past client had been scouring the planet to
find a piece that matched what she envisioned, and after realizing that she
wasn't going to find the right size, configuration and quality in an antique,
she recalled my craftsmanship and made the call. She provided me with a page
ripped out of Architectural Digest and a sketch of how she wanted the three
dimensions altered, and the door / drawer layout changed to become a handsome
bar. Other than that, it was "make this." Or almost... I didn't trust that the
desired dimensions were going to really sing; I thought that the depth was
possibly needing tweaking, so I made a full scale model, complete with molded
doors. My suspicions were right, it was just a little too tubby, overhanging the
front legs 5/8" more than my eye wanted. With this confirmed, I had all I needed
to know to make the piece, it was just a long series of steps in making
templates, jigs, fitting pieces and executing perfect "cabinet math", and
unrelenting attention to detail. From the beginning, I recognized that the guys
originally making these pieces didn't have my tools or my electricity, therefore
there was no whining. Good thing I prepared myself that way, because it was very
demanding.
It's made with air dried black walnut, French
burled walnut veneer, handmade holy and ebony inlay strips. It features
marquetry work on the top that is booked matched with banding radiating out on
the non-geometric curve. The burled veneer was exceptional and came with the
added story that it had come from Normandy, and that's why there were bullet
holes grown over in it,(!)...an even better reason to shut up and stop
whining. The doors and drawer also have a diagonal radiating banding outside of
the bent inlay, and the beading on the doors follows the curve.
The legs are hexagonal tapered posts with
fluting. I even had to make a special mold to bend and glue the wood for the
single curved inlay in the top.
After this project, I was happy when my wife
handed me a roller to paint the living room. "No problem, give me a barn to
paint, it's time to give the brain a rest!"
I got through it, and everyone came out the other
side alive. I didn't doubt that I could do it, and it set a new marker in my
mental index of what I'm prepared to do. You will have to pay me I might add
though.
Cheers!






