Requested to explain himself, Steve Latta would possibly say, “I symbolize the makers, the artisans, the craftsmen of our discipline. I’m a man that labored actually, actually onerous to realize mastery of an age-old ability in an period of automation.”
His current Baltimore card desk in mahogany—with veneers together with Carpathian burl, crotch walnut, plum pudding mahogany, imbuia, and Australian silky walnut—clearly embodies experience that’s many years deep, and it reveals an eye fixed for the best expressions of the Federal model. But it surely additionally displays a little bit of restlessness, an ambition to achieve past the realm of pure copy.
After 40 years constructing principally interval furnishings, Latta has been making a transition towards creating items that retain conventional kinds however add a recent cost. Having almost accomplished this desk whereas hewing intently to interval antecedents, he was pleased with the bottom and the open prime, however he didn’t suppose the closed prime was of the identical caliber; it appeared too easy. “I wished this to be an distinctive desk,” he stated, “so I took an opportunity and added holly lotuses.” The lotus design was unorthodox in itself, and he organized the flowers irregularly within the sunburst discipline. The longtime artisan sought a hand within the artwork: “I wished to present the everyday Federal symmetry somewhat little bit of a kick.” —Jonathan Binzen
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