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| Highboy... | ||||
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Designed 1989 This piece was designed for a group exhibition organized by the Museum of Fine Arts Boston in 1989 title "Studio furniture the second generation. The theme for this exhibition was that each artist was to design a new piece based on a classic historical object. My choice for reference was a William and Mary high boy that is part of the museums collection. I have always admired the boldness of the William and Mary object, with its burl veneer case floating above the delicate leg structure. How this mass related to the base though a beautifully delineated transitional element in the treatment of the lower line of the case and how it relates to the lines found in the leg structure has always struck me as one of the great design solutions in furniture history. My concern was to focus on these basic issues and try to refine and promote these basic concepts. The black lacquer panel in back is curved and larger than the front, so that the burl panel is framed and set off by the back; it also reduces the size of the sides so that the object is forced to be more frontal. The line quality between the leg structure and the case is simplified but remains critical to the composition, and the turned legs are also simplified in form as well. Drawer pulls have been removed the drawers are opened buy grasping the sides of each drawer. This object is now in the Boston museums permanent collection sitting quietly in the private members room. |
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