"Okapi!" Entry Hall Table
This special piece, loosely based on the famous Gamble house entry hall table, is built around the rare, dense piece of genuine Honduran mahogany used for the tabletop and legs. Mahogany this beautiful is rare now. The secondary paneling is typical of the plantation grown Honduran mahogany that one finds today (old growth mahogany is import banned). The drawer and shelf are birds eye maple veneer on hard maple. The black accents are African wenge and the white stripes are hard maple. I built this with the attention to detail I would use for my own collection. Full mortise and tenon construction. The tabletop and shelf are floated with tabletop clips. The breadboard ends float on their tenons, held on only by hidden dowels. The finish is Watco Natural Danish Oil (twice wet-sanded on tabletop, shelf and drawer front) and Watco Satin wax. Sometimes I wish the client would back out of the deal:). Hard to imagine a room or house in which this would look poorly.
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Jonathan Walkey is retired professional furniture maker who now makes selected pieces for discriminating clients. I am a one man studio, specializing in decorative arts and crafts, mid-century, Greene & Green, etc. furniture. my own personal style generally includes contrasting hardwoods with beautiful grains and hand worked inlays. In between commissions I simultaneously work on personal studio furniture projects.
I was raised in Lincoln Massachusetts where my father was the director of the DeCordova Museum of modern art. My mother worked as an expert in fine crafts and furniture . I attended many arts and crafts classes and summer art camps at the Museum. I was trained as a silversmith at age 11 and at age 12 built a 10 foot kayak made of wood and canvas. I was a U.S. Navy trained aviation mechanic and earned my living for 15 years as a master mechanic, working mainly on motorcycles. I am also a former carpenter, criminal appellate attorney, credentialed teacher, professional writer, and painter.
Today I apply my talents and interests to building fine arts and craft furniture. My lifelong continuing education combines training of the mind with training of the hands. What you buy from Jonathan is fine art as well as heirloom quality furniture built to last many lifetimes. These qualities are reflected in the cost of my work, neither of which should ever be compared with that of commercial furniture.
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