Customer recently asked me to draw up a dining table with gentle arcs for the long sides. Called the shape a “boat” tabletop. The table is 84″ long, 44″ wide at its midpoint, and I think 36″ wide at the ends. Seems like the radius worked out to about 163″ in TurboCAD.
The drawing is rather pleasing, and I’d like to know if there is any history to the concept. Kim Carleton Graves used a similar shape in his “Dining Tables” book published by Taunton. Haven’t seen any other uses of the concept.
Just curious. Thanks.
Replies
The "modern" oval table is simply an adaptation of the boat table. Or is it the othe way around? The design is based on the idea that each person on a given side can more easily see the other people on the same side if each is slighly more forward or back. Today the boat shape is primaily used for conference tables.
Edited 9/8/2009 10:14 pm ET by DougGF
I've used the shape back as long ago as the early 1980"s when I started into business. I didn't invent it. Neither did Kim C. Graves. It's been around a long time. Can't remember when or where I first saw it. But it's really rather a natural shape.
Thomas Moser has a Boat Top Table...
http://www.thosmoser.com/product.detail.php?category_id=5&family_id=&product_id=162
Thanks for the replies. I wasn't sure if the concept had a couple centuries of history, and was curious. I hope they go ahead with the table - I'd like to see it up close and personal.
There's a relating shape called a super-ellipse which has been popular in Danish Modern furniture. It is a smoothly-curved shape which is squarer than an ellipse, but not as square-cornered as a rectangle.
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