1990s David Levy Hardwood Creations Modular 3-Pc Puzzle Coffee Table Sapele Padauk

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Description

This is one of those pieces that stops people mid-stride. Three sculptural hardwood segments that nest together into a perfect … Read more This is one of those pieces that stops people mid-stride. Three sculptural hardwood segments that nest together into a perfect 43" circle — or pull apart to work as individual accent tables anywhere in a room. David Levy called it a Puzzle Table, and that's exactly what it is: furniture that invites you to keep rearranging it, reconfiguring it, living with it differently every few months.

Levy has been building functional wood art out of Davis, California since 1977, when he was a design student at UC Davis. He went on to exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show — one of the most prestigious juried craft exhibitions in the United States — and built Hardwood Creations into a respected name in American studio furniture. This is not production furniture. It is the work of a craftsman who treated every piece as an art object.
Each of the three segments is constructed from solid African Sapele — that warm, ribbon-grained hardwood that shifts and shimmers as light moves across it, showing new depth depending on where you stand. Running through the center of each segment is a bold stripe of African Padauk, flanked by a fine hairline accent of American Maple. The Padauk has deepened beautifully with age from its original bright orange-red to a rich, complex wine tone. Assembled, the inlay pattern fans outward from the center of the circle in a radiating chevron that reads almost like a geometric sculpture on the floor.

Nine elegantly tapered solid wood legs — three per segment — carry the whole thing at coffee table height. Separated, each piece becomes a leaf-shaped accent table in its own right: beside a sofa, anchoring a reading corner, flanking a bed. The versatility is genuinely rare in a piece this considered.

Every segment is burn-signed on the underside — David Levy / Davis, CA — a maker's mark that confirms both authorship and intent. He signed these the way artists sign paintings.

Condition is excellent throughout. Surfaces are clean with no significant scratches, rings, or finish loss. All nine legs are solid and stable. Minor age-appropriate patina on a well-kept circa 1990s studio piece.

Assembled: 43" diameter × 17.25" H
Each segment: 37.5" W × 21.5" D × 17.25" H
Materials: African Sapele, African Padauk, American Maple
Maker: David Levy / Hardwood Creations, Davis, California
Period: Circa 1990s
Style: Organic Modern / American Studio Craft See less