Designer : Michael Coffey

Michael Coffey is a self-taught woodworker, born and raised in New York, whose pieces blend the organic styles of art nouveau, the radical spirit of the 1960s counterculture, and the calculations of an engineer. Early on, Coffey produced pieces with slabs of wood, similar to Nakashima, but as his skills evolved his pieces took on a spirit of their own, and Coffey’s independent streak drove him away from conventional furniture and traditional styles.

In 1971 Michael Coffey brought some pieces to Directional Furniture in Manhattan, a company that was interested in innovative furnishings. The president, Bud Mesberg, liked the pieces and asked Coffey to create a line but to “go big.” Coffey created his Swahili cabinet, a piece carved on three sides with swirling, sweeping motions. Coffey developed several pieces for Directional, which helped his business and repertoire grow. However, Coffey felt that gallery shows and exhibitions better suited him, so around 1980 he stopped filling orders for Directional and focused his energy on individual client orders.

Wood is his medium of choice, and Coffey studied tree anatomy in order to select wisely.  He utilizes the wood’s grain to create the perfect pattern and handpicks the wood for every piece of furniture and carefully matches the color and grain of the boards. He carves through multiple layers of laminated wood, and wants a congruous color throughout the carved surface.  A metal bolt hidden inside a piece is a distinct feature in Coffey’s furniture that allows unified functions and gravity-defying forms.

Early in his career he founded a couple of woodworking schools: Michael Coffey’s School of Fine Woodworking and One Cottage Street School of Fine Woodworking.  He eventually sold his schools but never abandoned his basic principles of designing organically formed and well-structured pieces, and he continues to produce one-of-a-kind sculptural furniture.  The artist’s signature can be found on each piece—an incised M Coffey. He still works against the traditional grain and always wants his clients to use his furniture to its sturdy potential and not to treat it as sculpture to merely admire from afar.

65 Bleecker Street New York, NY 10012 Tel: (212) 673-0531 Fax: (212) 677-6068 info@merrillantiques.com

item name : Heron II Console Table by Michael Coffey designers : Michael Coffey item description : Heron II Console Table by Michael Coffey USA c. 1980 Herron II console by Michael Coffey. Graceful console table in wenge features a hidden sliding drawer. Mounts to wall. Signed “M. Coffey” 36H  39.5W  18D             Excellent original condition item # : TMF995 price : Request Price