Sideboard/Credenza

“Pieces”

We designed Pieces to be a very functional case piece that is constructed to the highest standards of furniture making seen in the 18th and 19th centuries resembling the work of the Gillow’s firm of Lancaster and London. We wanted the flat surfaces of the top and front of the doors, drawers, and legs to act as a single canvas on which over 250 pieces of highly figured and naturally colored custom cut 1/8" wood veneer that was applied as if like paint on a canvas using the orientation of the grain as brush strokes and the color of the wood as the paint on the artist’s pallet. The patterns of the applied woods represent the “Abstract Expressionism", "Abstract Illusionism", and "Cubism" fine art movements of the late 19th and 20th centuries. The color, grain characteristics, and shapes of the applied mosaic pieces were carefully chosen for their position within the composition to create a sense of tension and dynamics between the various elements in a manner similar to the paintings of Vassily Kandinsky, Fernanad Leger, and Piet Mondrian. The wood used in the construction of the piece is all “old stock” which we have saved for over 30 years of collecting or from collections of “old stock” which we have purchased ensuring that we are not promoting the cutting of any LIVE Trees in the production of our work. We also retain small cut-offs to reuse in the mosaic portions of our work. These practices coupled with our use of low and moderately low VOC coating and adhesives, FSC certified substrate materials with no or very low formaldehyde, and our electric is provided by photovoltaic cell panels are considered to follow LEED Gold, and Silver Certification Guidelines as well as Green Practices, and Best Practices. The finish is French Polish in the traditional manner requiring over 40 layers allowing for complete pore fill. There is over 450 man hours in the construction, decoration, and finishing of the piece. This piece is sold, but a custom credenza can be ordered that would be similar in construction, material usage, and artistic impression. Please contact us for further details and available production time.

Construction:

Hand cut dovetails for all of the drawer sides, sliding dovetails for the drawer runners and drawer blades, hand cut dovetails joining the upper case rail to the tops of the legs, hand cut mortise and tenons for the frame and panel back and case bottom, hand cut mortise and tenons for the joints between the side rails and legs, Drawer bottoms, side panels, back panels, and case bottom panels are ½ mahogany veneer core plywood to insure minimal wood movement. The top is formed from two panels of ½ mahogany veneer core plywood which is blind tenoned onto the case. Only hand joinery is utilized to secure all of the case elements to each other in keeping with the finest late 18th and early 19th century furniture construction techniques honoring such furniture making firms as Gillow’s of London and Lancaster. A mahogany boarder was applied on all sides of the top and doors to insure good adhesion of the wood application on show surface. Doors are ¾ mahogany veneer core plywood with a mahogany boarder. Drawers are ¾ plywood with solid mahogany border. The legs are three piece laminated construction to insure minimal wood movement. There are no screws or nails securing the case. The only screws are on the hardware. The case is secured with mortise and tenons and sliding dovetails adhered with fish glue. The top is secured with blind tenons applied from the legs to the top.

Materials:

This piece boasts 44 different species and figured grain patterns to include: African, Honduran, Santo Domingo mahogany; American black walnut; American cherry; Aromatic red cedar; Asian elm; Birdseye maple; Black and white ebony; Bloodwood; Bocote; Boxwood; Brazilian cherry; Brown Mallee; Bubinga; Cocobolo; English walnut; Goncalo Alves; Holly; Kingwood; Koa; Macassar Ebony; Maple, soft, hard, bird’s eye, and tiger; Olive wood; Osage orange; Padauk; Pear wood; Pink ivory; Purpleheart; Red Mallee burl; Rosewood East Indian and Bolivian; Satinwood- Ceylon and Brazilian; Sycamore; Tamboti; Teak; Tulipwood; Wenge; Western white cedar; Zebrawood; and Ziricote.