The Elastic Chair

My reproduction of the ‘fully elastic’ armchair

One of my areas of research is the chair maker, Samuel Gragg. In 1808 he patented a bentwood chair that he called: “Elastic.” Although thanks to the patent office being burned down later in the century, it is a fair assumption that his was the first, and certainly the most deserving piece of patented furniture in the new republic.

An exhibition of this work that I created and curated in 2003 “The Incredible Elastic Chairs of Samuel Gragg” can be found here, thanks to the Chipstone Foundation:

http://www.chipstone.org/content.php/17/Exhibition-Archive

Ship’s Wheel

I made this ship’s wheel for a two part article I wrote for WoodenBoat magazine. (Note:screws all hidden under stringing)

Making old furniture

The top half of this cupboard is the oldest known piece of case furniture from Cambridge, Mass. I made the base riffing off of other, slightly later objects in other collections, and extrapolating the details from the top half. The color difference is due to the flash in a dark room.

Carving

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These are some examples of my carving work.

Welcome

Thanks for visiting my site. For a full introduction, please click over to About…then come back and look at my work. Mike Pod-

Derby Summer House

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This is the Derby Summer House at Glen Magna estate, Danvers Historical Society: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derby_Summer_House Having started my career as a model maker (see other model making tags) I was delighted when I was commissioned by a private client to make a scale model of this historic building. It’s made of wood, brass, Plexiglass and cast …

Turned Object Conservation

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Serious, open crack in the end grain of a turned cherry bowl. After the damage, the bowl stood for some years, as environmental fluctuations caused the crack to slowly open. At this point serious force was necessary to close the crack. Furthermore, it had to be applied evenly so the bowl was not distorted and …

Tall clock case carving restored

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Tall clock hood with restored cornice ornaments

Empire Picture Frame

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Empire picture frame for needlework. This frame was terribly dirty and many of the decorative balls had been coated with metallic paint that had corroded. Patches of gilding had been worn from the cove. I cleaned everything, removed added paint and regilded where necessary.

Sculpted cross

This is a sculpture I made for an Episcopal church in Delaware. The intention of the rector was for an arresting form to set a tone for those entering the parish hall.  The cross stands seven feet high and is made of mixed materials.  The rocks are held together with epoxy paste. The natural part of the tree was made from resin over a wood form with the bark cast from rubber molds taken from an actual tree and painted. The finished wood is tangentially sawn red oak boards, glued into hollow beams and fitted together into the cross. The church motto was carved in Gothic letters.