TONY SMITH FINE FURNITURE

I describe myself as a traditional furniture maker. To better illustrate what I mean, I have included images of a variety of techniques used in making my furniture. The photos that follow show the joinery, marquetry, inlay, turning, carving and hand drawings used in every piece of the furniture that I make. I also make my own bandings and even hardware when necessary.

An Egyptian Revival console table with two storage areas accessed from the left and right sides of each cabinet. The design was by my client with input from me and the carver. It was made to match the Italian mirror from 1815 that sits above the table. All of the work was done in the traditional manner and it was made from cherry and cherry veneer. The carving and digital drawings were done by my good friend Adam Thorpe and the water gilding was done by Aedicule. I painted most of the panels and columns with a traditional matte casein paint and each panel was framed with metal moldings from Paris. The scagliola top was made in Italy.

These table tops were made from a photograph provided by a client. After some research it appears that the originals were made by Thomas Chippendale the Younger. The designs are very similar to some semi-eliptical commode tops from Stourhead. There are several hundred pieces of veneer in each one and most of them are embellished by sand shading or penwork. The tops are made of curly sycamore, satinwood, tulipwood, rosewood, dyed green veneer, holly, and dyed black veneer. These table tops won the Julia Morgan Award for excellence in craftsmanship and artisanship from the ICAA Northern California chapter in 2018. A more comprehensive description of the making of this piece with more photos are on the blog, entry date Dec. 28th 2016.

This is a slightly contemporary take on a Louis XVI commode. The piece was designed by my client who has a wonderful eye. He is fluent in French which was helpful when dealing with the people who provided the metal mounts. The case and drawers are dovetailed by hand, made in the same manner as a period piece. The primary wood is nicely figured maple all from the same tree, which provides a consistent look throughout. The maple was stained to harmonize with the wonderful marble in the room. Quartersawn oak was used for all secondary parts and all the antiqued nickel plated bronze mounts were made by a firm in Paris. A more detailed description of the construction of this piece with many more photos are on my blog, entry December 30th 2016.

The patterns for this chair came from a labeled Benjamin Randolph example. These chairs had varying levels of embellishment and while being a classic Philadelphia design, other examples were made in England. The tenon connecting the side rails to the rear posts are visible from the back in the classic Philadelphia manner.

This reproduction of a Louis XVI Console Table was made for the Salon Doré installation at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco. It received the 2016 Julia Morgan Award for artisanship and craftsmanship from the ICAA of Northern California. The table, part of the museum's permanent collection, was a collaboration with designer / carver Adam Thorpe and gilder Danielle Boiardi.

Based on rent tables of the late 18th century, this table was made with wide crotch mahogany top rather than leather which is far more common.  This table was made with two double ratcheted book lifts and two standard drawers. Quarter sawn oak was used for the drawer linings and the table was inlayed with ebony.

This Louis XVI style bureau plat was made with solid mahogany and mahogany crotch veneers. All drawer linings and secondary woods are quarter sawn oak. The bronze mounts are from Paris and it also contains a few secret compartments. Some details of its construction are shown on my blog, entry date of February 22nd 2017.

This European walnut, walnut burl and gilded table won the 2014 Julia Morgan Award from the ICAA of Northern California for artisanship and craftsmanship. This project was a collaboration with designer / carver Adam Thorpe and gilder Peter Werkhoven of Aedicule.

I apologize for using workshop photos here but I will have proper photographs soon. This table is based on an original design by Charles Stewart from around 1810. I have actually made three of these tables, one in 2002 and two others in 2020. This table transforms from a side table roughly 4 feet wide by 2 feet deep to a dining table 4 feet wide by 9 feet long that comfortably seats 10 people. The legs are removable and the whole table, leaves and legs fit in a baize lined solid mahogany box for storage. This allows a convenient place to store the leaves when not in use rather than using a closet. The box can be used as a coffee table giving you two pieces of furniture for the price of one. The table tops for all three tables were each made from two 16 foot long 24 inch wide, highly figured boards from the same tree. This yields a top with consistent color and grain. The mahogany had been in storage for 30 years and is essentially unobtainable now. I also made some of the hardware and I had an engraver hand engrave my nameplate as was customary with this kind of furniture in the period.

This tambour night table was based on several different examples of pieces made by John and Thomas Seymour. Made of figured maple, mahogany and sand shaded holly. Northern white pine was used for drawer linings.

A burled and ebonised chest of drawers with a fitted writing desk. Further description and proper photographs to follow soon.

This bench was one of a pair made to fit an exiting needlework pattern. It's made of walnut, with traditional joinery and finished only with wax.

I rounded up this set of Georgian chairs by making four side chairs and two armchairs. The image of the pair of chairs shows the period chair on the left and my reproduction on the right. The dining room image shows all six of my chairs with one period chair in the middle of each side. The original chairs and the dining table were supplied by Chappell and McCullar.

A display case that I made from yew and yew veneers. The case holds a small antique cannon that I also restored and made some elements from imitation ivory. I also made some of the brass elements.

A classic Georgian bookcase design made of mahogany with crotch veneered panels on the lower doors. The blown sheet glass panes on the upper doors are secured by cockbeaded molding rather than the traditional linseed oil putty used on the originals. It has a neater appearance and it would make replacing a broken pane easier if that were to occur. 

This Baltimore card table is based on an example associated with the Levin Tarr group. These examples have the black and white diagonal string just above the top bellflower. I made all the bandings and inlays from solid holly, ebony, tulipwood, and dyed green veneer. A detailed description of inlaying the legs is on my blog entry January 16th 2017.

This breakfront bookcase is made of quarter sawn oak, a technique of preparing the boards with the grain perpendicular to the growth rings. This material produces a figure from the modulary rays of the tree. The light color was requested by the client because it will sit in a dark spot in her home. I used the color of PugIn's furniture and interiors as a guide. The piece was made with hidden book slides built into the waist moldings. I borrowed the idea from various French bureau plat made in the 18th century. The bookcase is made of six boxes with a plinth, waist moldings and a cornice. All of the cases are dovetailed by hand and all the doors are traditionally made with mortise and tenon joinery. I made all of the moldings and many profiles are taken directly from Chippendale's Director. The books in the bookcase are all furniture reference material, a modest part of my personal collection.

Two different bamboo turned tray stands I made for two different paper mache trays. The lighter tray was made by Henry Clay. The last image shows an assembly of objects including an Art Deco inspired stand that I made of solid ebony with ebony veneer holding a silver tea service from the 1920’s.

This mahogany and gilded bronze “Temple of Waste” was designed by my client to match a Roentgen inspired bureau plat. It is a stylish waste paper basket that needed to not look out of place in a room filled with period antiques. I carved the triglyphs and guttae in mahogany and sent them to Paris to have them cast in bronze for this piece.

This chair was one of six made to match seven other Georgian chairs dating to 1780's. I used traditional joinery and I carved the chair to match. The finish that I used was also a traditional formula. The Prince of Wales Plume design on the original splat was more sensitively carved than on some other similar versions seen from the same period. More images and a description of the construction of the chairs are on my blog, entry date February 8th 2017.

I designed the this bookcase to fit a tall, narrow space in a library for a rare book collector. It is made to break into two separate pieces of furniture in the event that the client ever moved. It turns out that I took these photos a decade after I made it and the client was moving to London, so unfortunately there are no books in it. The design is fairly refined Georgian in style but it's made of a humble material. My client really wanted knots in the pine so I did my best to supply the material that he wanted.

This tabernacle was made for a Jusuit School chapel in Georgetown. It’s based on the oldest existing example in the United States, the Carroll family tabernacle from the 17th century. Charles Carroll of Carrolton was the only Catholic signer of the Declaration of Independence. He was the wealthiest person to sign the document, giving him the most to lose if things didn’t work out. He was the only signer who essentially gave his address on the document signing “Charles Carroll of Carrolton” which took some courage. And he was also the longest living signer. He died at the age of 95 in 1832. My example is made of cherry with bronze mounts. The original is in the final photo. I should say that I wasn’t supposed to copy it directly although I kept trying to convince them to let me.