Jon Gasparini, Wentworth Falls, NSW

La Mosca Tables
Blackbean (Castanospermum australe), 10mm clear toughened glass.
Single trestle La Mosca, 1200 x 900 x 410mm
Double trestle La Mosca, 1345 x 900 x 410mm
The trestle geometry, shape and size are different for each table.

Materials
The blackbean was milled in 1983 by a joinery company that had the contract to do all the Commonwealth Bank fitouts. In the mid 80s the bank changed its look from serious and sober wood panelling in blackbean to a jaunty black and yellow colour scheme in laminate. In consequence the company with the blackbean went out of business, and of course held an auction (about 1988). I was able to buy a good amount of very high quality timber at this sale and have used it to make quite a few special pieces over the years.

Joinery and glue used
The table bases are made up of two-leaved trestles that can close flat. There are three timber elements in each leaf that are joined together with dominos using West System Epoxy (blackbean is notoriously difficult to glue).
The leaves are held to each other and hinge to the flat position using a series of 12mm Zysa concealed hinges.

Finish
The wood was hand finished using a cabinet scraper followed by light sanding (320grit).
Three to four coats of Salco Wiping Oil (Solver Paint Co) were then applied over about three days. When the oil finish was fully cured Black Bison Fine Paste Wax (Liberon) was applied lightly and buffed to a satin sheen.
Concept
I am an admirer of the best modernist design of the 20th century particularly from the late 1940s and the 1950s. The reconstruction and revitalisation occurring in Europe and the USA following WW2 were mirrored in the furniture design of the period. There seemed to develop during this time a strong aesthetic connection between the fields of fashion, architecture, furniture and object design. The element that most exemplified this nexus was a strong sculptural geometry. The same sensibility seemed to pervade a ‘New Look’ Dior dress as a Ray and Charles Eames chair. At the same time the wallpaper in your local Sydney milk bar might have had a pattern based on the sculpture of Calder or the painting of Miro or even Picasso.
My excitement in furniture design is stimulated by strong form and proportion held in tension by the ever present and absolute constraint of function. Chairs need to be comfortable, cabinets need to hold specific objects but tables only need to hold up a horizontal surface. If that surface is transparent it frees you to think about making the support interesting. Who has not seen and admired Isamu Noguchi’s glass topped coffee table designed in 1945? I have always found it unsatisfying to some degree but love the confidence it has in its own simple lines.
The concept for my ‘La Mosca’ tables was first triggered some years ago by the cover illustration of a 1950s French language detective novel I was trying to read. It showed an interior that would today be called ‘retro’ and that contained a coffee table illustration that was unlike any real piece of furniture I had seen from the period. It was, however, an example of furniture design by a book illustrator and has needed a lot of work to get it to be a 3-dimensional object that can stand up and support a heavy glass top. I am pleased with the actualisation of the initial design concept. The strong architectural geometry does not detract from the organic dynamic of these pieces.
Note: The knockdown capacity of these tables is not dependent on allen keys or any other tool; they simply fold flat. When open, the trestles are extremely stable in all configurations as the geometry exerts an outward force to keep them in the open position. The stability increases when weight is applied by the top.

Photos: Jon Gasparini