Featured Artist: Chris Malcomson

Chris embarks on his most ambitious work to date: ‘Mazarin’ Desk c1660.

Chris has been attending our shows since 2007 & as we all know, his marquetry furniture is something incredibly special. Now based in Spain, Chris spends weeks/months producing just one piece of his unique furniture, but the reason for this becomes obvious with close inspection of his work; hundreds of tiny pieces of veneer making up the beautiful marquetry patterns on each item.

Always one to look out for in the PIMA awards, his Louis XIV Cylinder Desk earned him a “Highly Commended” in the 2020 competition, but that isn’t the end for Chris, never to shy away from a challenge, he set to work on a super-decorative Mazarin Desk, a special piece that Chris has been working on for the Showcase for the last 2 months.

This desk is one of the most difficult projects I’ve undertaken so far. Its taken over 2 months to make, specifically for this KDF online showcase.

The desk features double bow front drawers either side of a serpentine cupboard at its centre which slides forward, giving easy access to the inlaid drawers within. The top features a ‘gradin’ with further drawers and pigeon hole section giving the desk an added dimension.

The desk is decorated with hugely complex hand cut marquetry in various fruitwoods on all its surfaces and is about as fine as its possible to achieve on a piece of this size. The cast bronze mounts were made using the lost wax method specifically for the desk.

 The inspiration for the desk came from a piece Chris saw in the Getty museum of a similar shape, all the rest is his own design..

Mazarin Desk:
Dimensions… 95mm (3 3/4”) by 95mm (3 3/4”) by 50mm (2”).
£3600.00

See more of Chris’s work HERE.