- Makers Challenge 2024
- Michelle Hallee Wong
Michelle Hallee Wong
MH
Michelle Hallee Wong
Updated
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Makers Challenge
Maker
Michelle Hallee Wong
Entry Number
24.
Entry Category
Intermediate
Federal Card Table
I wanted to expand my experience with inlay as well as veneering and thought that an elaborate Federal or Georgian style card table would allow me this opportunity. The construction of the the table was the result of a detailed study of the card tables at the Yale Furniture Study, Steve Latta’s 2005 FWW article, and The Work of Many Hands, Card Tables in Federal America 1790-1820.
The table has a veneered pine brick laid semicircular apron with a white oak double flyrail. There are stops built into the knuckle joints so that the four legs form a rectangle to support the opened top. The back legs are rabbeted to support the back corners of the apron when the top is closed. There is a dovetailed drawer for cards in the back apron rail hidden by the flyrail. The tops are from a single wide mahogany board. The 50 two tone bellflower leg inlay design with semicircular black white black stringing was inspired by the Seymours. The apron banding is a shop made Baltimore banding. The raised central plaque on the apron was inspired by card tables seen in Portsmouth NH historic homes. The show top central fan with a surrounding collar was inspired by many elaborately veneered Georgian card tables. The central satinwood fans have 18 blades and there are 9 radiating divisions on the show top.The satinwood border both inside and out is bound with ebony as well as three layers of black-white-black stringing. I elected to use black white black stringing because it gives the appearance of very fine 1/42” holly stringing as the black visually merges with the mahogany. The fixed top has a cove profile on the underside to lighten its appearance. The socks are rosewood as is the dark layer around the fan on the show top. The table is constructed of mahogany, white pine, yellow pine, and white oak. The veneers used are Ceylon bee's wing satinwood, mahogany, rosewood, green poplar, black dyed veneer, ebony, and holly. All bandings, inlays, fans, ovals were made in my shop. It is finished with blonde shellac and wax. The hinges are from Ball and Ball and the drawer knob is from Brusso. This table was an absolute joy to build and I hope to build more highly decorated federal furniture in the future.