Stephen was inspired by an 18th-century John Goddard tea table with shaped aprons that sold at a 2005 Sotheby’s auction. He didn’t need a tea table, so he converted it to a writing desk. And he made various other changes. He designed aprons that are joined to the legs with mortise-and-tenon joints but appear to thin down as they bend in a sweeping curve to embrace the legs. He chose the aprons’ grain direction carefully to emphasize the curves. To modernize the Chippendale legs, he gave them a simple curve.

WALNUT, 18D X 43W X 29H

– Stephen Bodner, Chapel Hill, N.C.

From Fine Woodworking #299

Launch Gallery