The huntboard or small sideboard is  typically fairly plain.  This version in mahogany has matched crotch mahogany central panels on the doors and drawers with cross banding and cocked beads on the edges

The top is solid curly cherry with a triple bead molding worked on the edge. The drawer fronts are veneered in a tight patterned birdseye maple with rosewood crossbanding and the drawer pattern is repeated as a veneer panel on the sides and back.
The drawers are assembled with hand-cut dovetails, the extremely thin dovetail pins on the drawer fronts can only be cut by hand and are a characteristic of fine 18th century work. The drawer bottoms are held in a slip glued to each side, providing a wider bearing surface for the sliding action of the drawers, again, a detail seen only in the finest pieces. The secondary wood is yellow poplar also known as tulipwood.

Approximate Dimensions: (Depth x Width x Height): 16” x 22” x 29”

The full-size tambour desk is one of the few distinctly American designs of the Federal era; this form reached its peak in the work of John and Thomas Seymour, who worked in Boston from about 1796 to 1804. This example, in cherry, is inspired by the Seymour desks in the Kaufman Collection and the Winterthur Museum, DE. Rare fiddleback cherry veneer enlivens the drawer fronts and the tambour has molded slats inlaid with swags of husks. Satinwood, maple, sycamore and holly inlays provide further decoration in the neo-classical style.

The sides, top, writing surface flap, and legs are solid cherry; the drawer fronts are veneered onto solid cherry with satinwood crossbanding, protected by a cocked bead. The decorative front edge of the top has 200 leaves, each individually inlayed into the solid wood. The top flap opens onto retractable slides to reveal a hand tooled English leather writing surface, framed in crossbanded cherry veneer.

The tambours are inlayed with thick veneer and worked with a double reed molding. They lock in the closed position; the keyhole is hidden by the closed writing surface. The top section has two secret compartments.

The drawers are assembled with hand-cut dovetails, the extremely thin dovetail pins on the drawer fronts can only be cut by hand and are a characteristic of fine 18th century work. The drawer bottoms are held in a slip glued to each side, providing a wider bearing surface for the sliding action of the drawers, again, a detail seen only in the finest pieces. The secondary woods are yellow poplar and hard maple.

Approximate Dimensions:
(Depth x Width x Height): 20” x 38” x 43” (closed) 28” x 38” x 43” (open)

Materials: Honduras Mahogany, Crotch Mahogany Veneer, Holly Veneer, Satinwood Inlay

Chicago-area woodworker John Gush built this extended dining table, which occupies his dining room alongside several other reproductions of “bespoke period furniture in the Federal style,” he says. The table seats up to 16 with the two leaves in place and 12 when the leaves are stored underneath the tabletop. The table is matched with a set of chairs built in the Cape Dutch style, which is native to Gush’s home country of South Africa. Made of Honduras mahogany, the table features 16 matching oval fan inlays in holly and mahogany veneers.

Fine Woodworking

Dimensions: 136-in. to 180 in. deep by 46-in. wide by 29-in. tall.

This piece is based on the small ladies’ work tables of the Federal period. These tables usually had ornate silk bags suspended on a slide under the drawers to hold sewing or embroidery work. This table, inspired by the work of the 18th century Boston cabinetmakers, John and Thomas Seymour, is modified for use as a nightstand by omitting the bag. The serpentine top, with birdseye maple veneer on the drawer fronts, and the reeded and fluted turned legs, combine to produce one of the most pleasing and rare forms of small Federal furniture.

The top is solid curly cherry with a triple bead molding worked on the edge. The drawer fronts are veneered in a tight patterned birdseye maple with rosewood crossbanding and the drawer pattern is repeated as a veneer panel on the sides and back.
The drawers are assembled with hand-cut dovetails, the extremely thin dovetail pins on the drawer fronts can only be cut by hand and are a characteristic of fine 18th century work. The drawer bottoms are held in a slip glued to each side, providing a wider bearing surface for the sliding action of the drawers, again, a detail seen only in the finest pieces. The secondary wood is yellow poplar also known as tulipwood.

Approximate Dimensions: (Depth x Width x Height): 16” x 22” x 29”

VISIT IT

Kudos go to Naperville furnituremaker John Gush whose American Federal style tambour desk is appearing this spring in the “Contemporary Classics” exhibit at the Telfair Museum of Art (in the Academy of Arts and Sciences building) in Savannah, Ga. Rather than do an exact replica of an important piece, Gush (who makes custom period furniture by profession and goes by the name John Gush Bespoke Furniture) was inspired by two desks attributed to late 18th early 19th Century cabinetmakers John and Thomas Seymour of Boston. Gush handcrafted a composite of those two desks — and did some tweaking ofhis own. Gush’s desk is made of native American cherry wood; the originals were of imported mahogany. The originals had enamel drawer pulls; Gush used period brass handles. Telfair the oldest public art museum in the South, dating to 1886, is showing pieces from 24 furnituremakers across the country. Gush is the only one from Illinois. The show runs through May 28.

Naperville Sun