Íkonos Coffee Table by Rob Edley Welborn

Details

Description

I myself designed and oversaw the fabrication of this prototype of the Íkonos coffee table and it's been in my … Read more I myself designed and oversaw the fabrication of this prototype of the Íkonos coffee table and it's been in my own collection ever since. My icon is affixed to the frame underneath the top.

It has two especially prominent features.

For one thing, its 6½" wide planks are arranged concentrically rather than in parallel. That accentuates that the table is square and not rectangular. Furthermore, they are spaced an eighth of an inch apart to provide shadow lines that underline their pattern. The photograph of the underside of the table shows you the unusual frame that had to be provided to enable the gaps between the surface boards.

The planks are pegged into the frame underneath them, which enriches the surface.

The second thing is that the table's stretchers are mortised into the legs so that their ends are visible as part of the table's top surface. That's not just an inlay pattern! The stretchers appear to be a different color from the legs because the stretchers are sawn in line with their grain whereas the legs' tops are sawn across their grain.

The table is made out of Cedrela odorata (Spanish cedar), which is a species that grows so well in Central and northern South America that it's often used in reforestation projects, so it's a very green choice. Unfortunately, its aroma cannot survive its curing. See less