Burls are highly figured, natural deformities typically removed from the trunks of trees and discarded before the wood is sawn into lumber. When seen through the eyes of a craftsman, however, such castoffs can become functional works of art. The prototype Kerf Table set is one such example of beauty borne from nature’s anomalies.
Each of the ten limited edition tables is created from a slice of a single intact burl that Design Principal Alan Maskin recovered from a Port Townsend, Washington lumberyard. Each unique tabletop highlights the twists and turns of the burl’s raw edge. Kerf cuts create barely-there slots for metal plates, forming the connection for three forged and welded steel legs fabricated by Anvil House in Seattle. The surface of the tables features a hand-rubbed oil finish by Seattle furniture artisan Steve Clark. Maskin designed the tables to be intentionally versatile; appropriate in groups or singularly, in the home or workplace.
