Mireille Pugin, Queen Anne Inspired Reclaimed Blackwood Dressing Table (STUDENT 2023)

Student:

Secondary

Name of school or tertiary institution, and name of woodworking teacher (if you have one):

Wollongong High School Of The Performing Arts, teacher: Max Ordinall

I am a Yr12 ITT student at Wollongong High School of The Performing Arts (WHSPA) 2023. My Major Project is an 18th Century inspired Dressing Table based on French Queen Anne period furniture. The project combines the old and the new in terms of its design, joinery and materials used. This project has been constructed entirely from reclaimed Australian Blackwood. The timber was purchased roughsawn and then dressed at school. From this stock, multiple selections took place to establish a consistent grain/colour pattern throughout the project. Apart from various types of hand cut dovetails, the project includes laminated timbers, cabriole legs, book matched panels, a timber mirror frame from laminations of sectioned Blackwood tenoned to each other; as well as a hand carved shell design with acanthus leaves. The V-shaped support at the back of the project simultaneously holds the mirror in the frame, the frame to the dresser, as well as holding the back panel in place. In another twist, although dovetail joints have been used throughout per tradition, the dovetail has also been used in a unique way, to give strength joining a front rail with a panel providing structural integrity. The panel having been incorporated as a modern feature. By removing the drawers on either side and replacing these with cupboard spaces, two doors had to be designed and manufactured to fit. Removing the drawers created a structural design problem, resolved using the dovetail in a different way. This complicated design provided many challenges that resulted in a unique piece of furniture.

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