Art Nouveau Style Mahogany and Bubinga Side Tables
About The Project
The customer for these tables has turned the inside of his 1920’s bungalow into an Art Nouveau show piece. He has commissioned furniture makers like me, glass blowers, metal artisans, tile makers, and drapers in the remodeling and furnishing of his home. These two tables are the first pieces he commissioned from me.
Art Nouveau (French for "New Art") is an international decorative style, popular between 1890 and 1910, defined by sinuous, asymmetrical, "whiplash" curves inspired by natural forms like plants and flowers. It aimed to modernize design by breaking from historical styles, often applying organic, stylized ornamentation to architecture, jewelry, furniture, and graphic arts.
The mahogany whiplash legs of these tables hit the Art Nouveau definition spot on. The leg tops curve over like plant tendrils, with the front legs’ whiplashes licking the table top.
The table tops and shelves are veneered in beautifully waterfall figured bubinga. The wood is sometimes called kevazingo, a name usually applied to its decorative rotary-cut veneer.
Designing these tables was a project in itself. My customer was very engaged in the project, and we had numerous design sessions. The first step was to create rough sketches of the tables. The design was thenfinalized by making multiple scale 3D models, and full-size mockups of the legs and whiplashes. Creating the actual legs involved a lot of handwork, just like they did it during the Art Nouveau period.
