These images and descriptions are of the Baltimore card table I made in 1996 as a student at the North Bennet Street School. As one of my instructors, Will Neptune told me, "Your not hear to make furniture, your hear to learn how to make furniture". This project had a lot of techniques used in Federal Furniture making, bricking veneering, making fans, making bandings, making patera and inlaying everything. Because it was a card table it also had two movable gate legs. This table was based on one from the Kaufman Collection that was in a catalogue from their show at the National Gallery. I learned a great deal on this piece.
This is the finished leg with the bellflowers hanging from the little black and white string a detail that connects the design to the Levin Tarr group.
This is how I laid out the ebony and holly for the banding that runs along the bottom of the apron and across the legs.
Glueing the strings around the central ellipse.
Fitting 8 pieces of tulipwood around the ellipse to provide perpendicular striping. This is then trimmed by eye and wrapped with two more strings.
Sand shading holly veneer for the petals.
Cutting the elongated center petals.
Inlaying the center petals last after inlaying the two flanking petals. This distinguishes Baltimore from Boston where the center petals are inlaid first and are not elongated.