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Richard Jones Furniture

Torpedore.

American cherry, hard maple, dye and lacquer.
Dimensions: H 900 mm X W 1200 mm X D 560 mm. (H 35-1/2" X W 47-1/4" X D 22"

A primary driver in the evolution of the design of Torpedore was to create an immediate visual impact on the viewer. There are strong visual motifs that contrast and complement one another such as the repetition of sweeps, arcs and curves, set against massed vertical lines and striking colour gradations through the use of dyes. Included within the theme of complement and contrast are the wood choice of the red/brown American cherry set against the clean white hard maple for the interior cabinetry.

The prominent sweeping curves in the 'torpedo' legs are reflected in the gently arced bottom edge of the lower rail, the front of the cabinet top and the cabinet front itself. Parallel vertical lines of the pair of hard maple tambours are a serried rank marching across the front of the cabinet and these link with similarly parallel lines revealed by the cut of rift sawn cherry legs, side panels, and the bottom front rail. In contrast to the parallel lines, most of which run vertically, the top itself is made up of tangentially sawn wood for a contrasting arched grain pattern. There is a deliberate trompe l'oeil effect in the staves that make up the tambours with each stave individually dyed so that, when both tambours are closed, the colour changes incrementally from one stave to the next, and the tambours appear to recede deeper into the cabinet than they actually do because of the darker 'shadows' at the outer limits. Maple was chosen for this element because it is essentially white thus providing a neutral canvas for the dyes. Finally, looking at the exterior, there is the incorporation a playful yet practical motif, inspired by the fading light of a desert sunset and the shadows formed by sand dunes: this was the inspiration for the overlapping profiled finger pulls at the centre of the tambours that provide access to the cabinet interior.

Inside the main cabinet is a sub-cabinet of pale off-white American hard maple with four adjustable shelves and a nest of graduated drawers on touch release drawer slides. Maple was chosen to give an interior that is 'clean', visually light, and unfussy in contrast to the visual fireworks of the exterior.

A description of manufacturing the tambour for Torpedore is at this link .

Below. Presentation drawings or concept drawings, both hand drawn and generated on Fusion 360 prior to construction.

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