Ever see something that just makes you want to quit?

[Zach Dillinger]

I did on Saturday. Never happened before. Not that I'll quit making furniture or anything, but it takes something out of it to recognize that I will never make anything this good.

c.1690 Dutch cabinet. Ebony, tortoiseshell, ivory, and floral marquetry. My pictures are lame given the no-flash rule, but they give you the idea.

I think I'll go drown my sadness in some gin in honor of the brilliant Dutch cabinetmaker(s) who made this.

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[Sean Hughto]

What specifically do you think you could never match? The techniques, the skill, the design, the execution? If it is just general goodness, it seems to me you can keep hope alive that you will make your own masterpiece. In my experience, Impressive skill does not always equal great art. This piece does look nice.

[Prashun Patel]

I wonder if it was one person who did that?

[Jim Koepke]

It likely took more than a couple of afternoons in the shop to make that one.

Not sure if anyone around here would want such a bold statement in their home.

Styles come and go, some go away forever. Today many people would only want this piece if it was 'distressed.'

jtk

[Jim Belair]

Fine workmanship to be sure, but not to my taste. So while I can admire the skill it took to execute, it has no impact on my motivation.

[Mel Fulks]

If you could get the materials we have confidence you could do it....even if that particular wall paper is discontinued!
But seriously,I see that piece an an excellent example of personal indulgence. Designed to be seen close up and caressed as you reach for your socks and underwear, but I think that
viewed from accross the room there are more handsome examples of furniture. More to your question ,the carving of Samuel McIntire
to me always stands well above all his copiers .

[Dave Anderson NH]

Fine workmanship to be certain. Not to my taste either by ornamentation or the overall shape. Where is the piece Zach? If I had to guess, I would put the date in the mid to late 1600s??

Personally I prefer the Baroque and some of the less ornamented and carved Rococco styles where the interplay of positive and negative space provides the style and interest.

[Jeff Heath]

Fine workmanship to be sure, but not to my taste. So while I can admire the skill it took to execute, it has no impact on my motivation.

I don't think I could have said it better. I am the type of guy who is always very impressed with the excellent execution of building furniture for use in our everyday lives. When I see one of you fine lads build something with your own two hands, as simple or extravagant as it may be, it always gives me hope that craftsmanship and pride in execution will not die with my generation. Nothing makes me happier than seeing a young man in his twenty's make a coffee table or kitchen table for his new family.

I think the piece shown above took tremendous amount of skill in execution with the marquetry, but I myself would never invest the time it took to perfect that craft. I find that style of furniture to be gawdy, and am more impressed with a simple bookmatched table of two slabs of walnut with live edges....something found and used in my own home every day.

And Zach, I've seen your work, and you've got nothing to worry about. Just keep on keepin' on.

:)

[Andrew Hughes]

Reminds me of a castle, maybe it was made for a King?

[Halgeir Wold]

When I see something like this, I get about the same feeling as when I see one of the grand cathedrals somewhere in Europe, - it was all built whne Labour was free - at least almost. Craftsmen worked for the penny, or just for the food. Of course you can build something like that setup, but how much time do you have????
Imagining building something like the Notre Dame of Paris, or the Cologne cathedral at todays cost Level.... practically possible, but economically totally impossible...

[Zach Dillinger]

Thanks everyone. I know this type of work isn't everyone's idea of good taste, but for me this is the top of the craft. I'd rather have this in my house than a lot of very popular, more modern styles. And the part about me quitting obviously isn't going to happen, I just couldn't think of a better way to express my absolute admiration for the piece. But... I expect I'll give something like this a go before I'm done. I was just investigating tortoiseshell veneer options... they make a decent looking substitute for guitars but I worry that the pattern would be too consistent to look right when sheet after sheet are laid down together. Too uniform and fake looking, I fear.

By the way, this piece is in the Toledo Museum of Art.

[Paul Sidener]

I have to agree, some serious talent. I think it would out of place in my house.

[Tony Joyce]

Kinda the way I feel when I see Patrick Edwards work. Of course I know it takes a lifetime to get to that level and you can't wait till you're old to start. That was probably the pinnacle of that guy's career.

Tony

[Mike Henderson]

A woodworking teacher I had gave me some advice when I first tackled a complex project. He said that every project can be broken down into individual small steps. And if you can do each small step, or learn how to do that step, you can do a very complex piece. A complex piece often just has a lot of steps but if you take them one at a time, you'll complete the project.

Mike

[Jim Matthews]

I wonder if it was one person who did that?

Not a chance. You would starve, trying to make something like this on your own.
Even the great portrait painters of the day had assistants.

http://www.history.org/media/podcasts_transcripts/FourthGenCabinetmaker.cfm

[Graham Haydon]

I know that feeling Zach and it's a great one. The sense of wonder and admiration that strikes a cord is a feeling to be treasured.

[Jim Koepke]

A woodworking teacher I had gave me some advice when I first tackled a complex project. He said that every project can be broken down into individual small steps. And if you can do each small step, or learn how to do that step, you can do a very complex piece. A complex piece often just has a lot of steps but if you take them one at a time, you'll complete the project.

Mike

Some times the hard part is determining what order the steps need to be taken.

jtk

[Brad Schafer]

is that the one in the Toledo Museum? seems like i saw one that looked an awful lot like that up there ... over the top ornate. 17th century bling? :D

[John Vernier]

Don Williams has developed an artificial tortoiseshell for use in restoration. He started to write it up on his blog a few months ago but didn't get very far. Something involving poured resin sheets with brushed pigments for the coloring. Looked interesting, hope he will write more about it.

[george wilson]

It took if I recall correctly,19 distinct tradesmen to build a gun of reasonable quality in England in the 18th. C.. Many more if the piece was chiseled and embellished.

The same might be true if this piece.

It is not to my taste either,though the workmanship is fine. I do not think the overall design is that tasteful. Mostly,I enjoy the marquetry.

At the time,those squared off legs would have been more trouble than round ones,without a bandsaw,but I still prefer round trumpet legs. Don't care for the colors that much either,though they probably have changed in the life of the piece. Red is always fugitive.

You might try looking at Stewart MacDonald's guitar supply catalog. They sell some pretty realistic tortoise shell pick guard material,and each piece is individually stained while the material is still liquid. So,none are exactly alike. I used some of it on my last guitar. Very nice stuff.

Really,I don't consider that there is anything on that piece that could not be accurately made By you or me,except I just do not have the energy,or the desire to get into a project like that. While I enjoyed the challenge of making marquetry guitars,my personal preference is for plain but elegant work.

[Kees Heiden]

There where of course workshops in many sizes at that time as well as today. The largest and most famous ones, the kind who might have made a abinet like this, where run by a master who didn't do handwork himself. He was running the business.

I remember a woodcarving business at the end of the 17th century. The master and his wife were running an orphanage. Very usefull for cheap labor. They made some incredible stuff. Jan de Rijke:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/Interieur_preekstoel_-_Uithuizermeeden_-_20211327_-_RCE.jpg

[Moses Yoder]

In my opinion that thing is seriously ugly. I would never want to build anything like it. Given time and money, we can do whatever we set our minds to. If you consider sending an unmanned explorer to Mars, building a piece like this is actually quite simple. Below are a couple chairs I found on Google images that would require a higher skill level to build right, and is something like I hope to achieve some day.

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[Zach Dillinger]

Everyone has their own opinions Moses. No worries. Welsh stick chairs are sorta neat. Not my thing at all, but neat enough to get plenty of attention. I don't agrer re: the skill required to produce them but no worries.

[Leo Passant]

In my opinion that thing is seriously ugly. I would never want to build anything like it. Given time and money, we can do whatever we set our minds to. If you consider sending an unmanned explorer to Mars, building a piece like this is actually quite simple. Below are a couple chairs I found on Google images that would require a higher skill level to build right, and is something like I hope to achieve some day.

303120

I don't like ostentatious seventeenth- or eighteenth-century furniture any more than gaudy Victorian stuff, though I can appreciate the craftsmanship and work that went into making it.

Over the past forty years I have restored my fair share of high-end eighteenth-century British furniture and made a few copies too. I have also made dozens of Windsor chairs and I can state with some authority that a reasonably talented woodworker can learn everything necessary to make a Windsor chair in a weekend, whereas it takes an exceptionally skilled craftsman a lifetime of work to produce furniture of the calibre illustrated by the OP.

[Harold Burrell]

I did on Saturday. Never happened before. Not that I'll quit making furniture or anything, but it takes something out of it to recognize that I will never make anything this good.

c.1690 Dutch cabinet. Ebony, tortoiseshell, ivory, and floral marquetry. My pictures are lame given the no-flash rule, but they give you the idea.

I think I'll go drown my sadness in some gin in honor of the brilliant Dutch cabinetmaker(s) who made this.



I dunno...

What couldn't you make? If you don't look at the whole, but take it apart in your mind...it might not be all that hard.

You might be surprised. You could very possibly be able to reproduce something like this.

Granted...it would cost you a fortune...

And quite probably take you 150 yrs...