Terry Bostwick Studio: An Interpretation of An Andres Arbus Cabinet

I find this console I recently made particularly poignant today with so much media hoopla about Modern furniture. Go to any design blog, most chic-chic design resources for current styles and trends and you can't avoid being inundated with what is called "Modernism". But Modernism in its historical sense was more encompassing than current trends and tastes.

MODERNE, is another title for Mid Century design. I'm not going to bore you with an historical treatise, but if you do have interest what you may find is quite a broad range of styles and materials far removed from what is currently being made today. Yes, there is a 'hard edge' 'squared off and simple' aspect of that period. But if one were to follow a timeline of the development of European furniture design (and American to some degree) beginning in the 1920's and carry through into the 1950's, one would watch 'the curve' evolve into a crisp, but graceful 'hard line' of focus and intention. Art Deco is a familiar era within this period where we think of beautiful exotic veneers and mixed rich color and materials that included gilding, cast bronze epaulletes and decoration. But with a little deeper dig you might realize that, as we moved into the 40's and early 50's, that Elegant Design was not centered around Post War industrial production styles that have so heavily consumed current taste today.

During that transition of curve to hard line you will find Andre Arbus designing some extraordinary furniture. He was a French Beaux Arts ebeniste, bringing all of the 'tools' available from the late 19th century Art Nouveau through the period of the richness and elegance of the interiors of the Empire State Building and the preeminent ocean liners of that time. But he also carried along in his own development a softening of that design exhuberance, refining and reworking but maintaining an integrity and reverence for superb materials and technique. In my research on Andre Arbus there is never a reference to Biedermeier Design, but without a doubt I find those influences evident particularly here with this piece in its layered effect balanced by graceful curving lines.

I was asked to reinterpret one of his pieces, hold to the original design intention as close as possible, but reduce the size to fit the room and add a sculpture display area for an entry piece into a home in San Francisco. I worked with photos taken from many angles and worked very closely with his choices. We chose a Pommele Sapele veneer for the bookmatching because of its overall uniform skin like character. The original I worked from was in a mottled Bubinga veneer with a purplish cast to it. The finish was done by Rosemont Design Group, in Portland, it is full filled, high gloss, and hand polished (A big thank you to Ken Hochfeld and Dave Kaji who pulled this off for me). A very difficult finish to accomplish, but done carefully it reflects the elegance of that time period - simple, clean lines (sound familiar? but...what's different here?) with the added richness of the beautiful curve offsetting the hard edge layering that was a hallmark of Arbus design.

Here's a couple more views of the piece including the "S" curve of the front edge of the bank of drawers. The heavy bend at the bottom dies into an exaggerated and unique base creating a pedestal effect which elevates this from a mere piece of furniture into something more akin to art in design. At the top is a subtle 'tweak' or reverse curve which begins an overall seemingly out of balance cant, tipping the piece forward, but finds itself resolved at the lower section. I must admit this was a very difficult piece to make. The curved panels were difficult enough to achieve because the drawer faces had to fit precisely and bending creates issues with springback when released from its gluing form, which I had to account for and anticipate in the construction. On top of that, because drawers are engineered to move parallel to the floor, I had to hand fit each drawer box to the back curve of the drawer face as they moved from top to bottom. (A little pat on my head, thank you)

And, finally, a view of black wood inlay in the top, again simple, geometric shapes, a further counterbalance to the hard edge and square overall character of the piece. I was again assisted by David Boyd and his extraordinary ability to utilize current technology with his digital drawing and use of his CNC router. David and I have worked together many times complimenting each other to create these beautiful pieces. Once again, thank you David.