Philip & Kelvin LaVerne Large Chan Table

Philip and Kelvin LaVerne are a father-son duo who began producing one-of-a-kind furniture and sculpture in the 1950s out of a studio on Wooster Street in New York City. The LaVernes married a stunning array of techniques and styles to achieve their singular, deeply layered look for one-of-a-kind and limited-edition pieces. Chinoiserie motifs abound on many of their acid-etched tables, but art from ancient Greece and Egypt also served as inspiration. The influence of figurative sculptures is evident in designs like coffee tables and side tables with bronze bodies serving as frames or bases. The duo developed their own unconventional methods – sometimes to an extreme – for finishing their pieces. Techniques employed by the LaVernes included acid washing and burying furniture underground in a mixture of soil and chemicals to achieve a desired patina through oxidation. While they sometimes used pewter and silver, bronze was one of their most commonly employed materials, either etched or cast and sometimes paired with glass tops. Their partnership ended when Philip died in 1987 and kelvin shifted his practice to sculpture.