Craig Thibodeau's Art Deco Chess Table

Craig Thibodeau in his studio

Craig Thibodeau grew up around woodworking and enjoyed it as a hobby. He earned a degree in mechanical engineering and started a career in industrial product design. However, after his children were born, his hobby became a home-based vocation and his workshop became a professional studio.

A series of specialized courses

To intensify and deepen this transition he immersed himself in a series of specialized courses, such as:

• Advanced marquetry and veneering with Paul Shurch
• Hand applied finishes at the College of the Redwoods
• Traditional French Marquetry with Patrick Edwards
• Compound Bending with Brian Newell

This is part one of a two-part post

In this first part I'll focus on a few Ruhlmann-inspired Art Deco furniture pieces. I spoke with Craig after I made my last two posts: 'Rodney Black's Art Deco vision for Lady Christine IV interiors'; and 'Emile-Jacques Ruhlmann: genius of Art Deco' . Since I was planning to do a post on Craig's marquetry-enriched furniture designs, he suggested that I start with a few of his Art Deco tables and accessories.

As Silas Kopf pointed out in my last post:

"The man who has had the greatest influence on designer-craftsmen of furniture in the last 100 years is undoubtedly Jacques-Emile Ruhlmann"

One fine example of this is Craig Thibodeau's Art Deco Chess table

  

  Art Deco Chess Table

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Rodney Black's Art Deco Vision For Lady Christine IV Interiors

Owners Lord and Lady Laidlaw commissioned Feadship companies Royal Van Lent Shipyards and DeVoogt Navel Architects to design and build their new superyacht 'Lady Christine IV'.

Lady Christine IV

Rodney Black Design Studio's first superyacht commission

Lord and Lady Laidlaw commissioned British designer Rodney Black, principal of the renowned architecture, interior design and landscaping firm Rodney Black Design Studios, to lead the interior design team. Rodney Black worked very closely with the owners, Irvine and Christine Laidlaw and Royal Van Lent to assemble a formidable team of crafts-based specialists. These included: Van Der Loo (Feadship's joinery company); Struik and Hamerslag (yacht cabinetry); Bill Cleyndert and Company Ltd (joinery and bespoke furniture); and ARYMA (marquetry design and fabrication).

Extraordinary levels of fine detailing and finish throughout

[Main panels with Mother-of-Pearl, framed in cherrywood with ebony mouldings and amboyna panels, 
criss-cross ebony inlay columns topped off with a Deco shell capital in gold leaf]

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Monaco Yacht Show

I spoke with Rodney Black at his studio in England a couple of days before he joined Lord and Lady Laidlaw at the Monaco Yacht Show, where they showcased 'Lady Christine IV' to an invite only audience. He sent me these high-resolution images along with some images from his site. I am also referencing the press release at the Feadship site and my earlier post on this project from the perspective of Howard Sansome and ARYMA.

"Our starting point for the interior design was an early rarefied form of Art Deco based on the the 1925 "Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes" in Paris and to a lesser extent, the French luxury liner 'Normandie', whose maiden voyage was in 1935" explains Rodney Black. "This pure modernist expression featured a paired down form of classicism using the most beautiful materials and shapes imaginable at the time."

Art Deco interior with marquetry and inlay as the keynote

Rodney Black went on to explain that the owners' brief was for an Art Deco themed interior with marquetry and inlay as the keynote. They also envisioned four major marquetry art panels: a triptych that portrays the natural and architectural wonders of the world; as well as a piece that celebrates the modes of travel that have enabled them to experience these places together.

Bespoke Art Deco Sofa
[Curved joinery and curvilinear inlay of sleigh design sofa]

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A cohesive vision

Rodney Black received this brief and created a cohesive vision for his clients' aspirations. He and his team produced hundreds of drawings, including the initial free-hand sketches for the marquetry art panels. The Laidlaws worked with them, signing-off on each plan. Rodney Black's vision was for the early Deco period's pure modernist expression to serve as a foundation for the Lady Christine's style, clearly referencing the brilliant artwork of designers such as Emile-Jacques Ruhlmann, René Lalique and Edgar Brandt; however, nothing is copied, it's all uniquely designed.

The early Art Deco aesthetic
[Initial inspiration for marquetry motif on door came from Art Deco designer Edgar Brandt's 1925 fire screen]

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