Woodworker: Judy Bonzi

Bonzi says her interest in the French Art Deco furniture maker Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann-“and in particular those crazy legs he made”-guided her in designing and building this table (14-1⁄2 in. wide by 27 in. long by 25 in. tall). Each leg comprises eight pieces of riftsawn walnut, coopered and then faired to the distinctive Ruhlmann torpedo shape. Bonzi curved the aprons, which are also riftsawn walnut, to complement the curves in the legs. She cut the camphor burl veneer for the top in a four-way book-match and finished the piece with varnish.

Bonzi completed this piece as a student at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Rockport, Maine.