New York Artisan Center

11/23/2023

04/12/2023

03/29/2023

today's post is of an incredible, mirrored powder room vanity we made a number of years ago for Michael Simon Interiors... the moulding on the cabinet is from the venerable firm of P.E. Guerin, who also did the 23k gold plating to perfection, as well... glass/mirror work was done by Zecca, I believe... an outstanding execution and coordination of work from the finest vendors New York City has to offer

03/23/2023

no space goes unused!... a photo of our hallway space leading into our shop and office/showroom at the New York Artisan Center in Long Island City... in the first photo are framed copies of some of the many magazine articles that we have been featured in and original drawings of various furniture legs and drapery finials of just a few of the many pieces we have made over the years... a unique feature of our shop is our "drafting" wall where we draw all of our projects full size using custom made X-Y drafting equipment... NO scaled drawings!... the wall accommodates drawings up to 9ft. by 9 ft!.... every aspect of a piece of furniture that we are making is detailed on our drawings and discussed with our clientel for approval before fabrication begins... it is the first step in bringing our customers ideas to life and has always been well received as a unique design aid in the fabrication process... we often have decorators bring our full size drawings to a clients home to pin to a wall to get a sense of scale of what they want that piece to have in the room, and to check to see if adjustments need to be made...

03/14/2023

here is a stool from a set of four we made for Michael Simon Interiors, that are a bit different in that all the detail pieces were made as seperate pieces, finished, then all pieces glued together to make the bench... doing the finishing before the final assembly gave the details a more three dimensional look and much better shadow lines and under cuts... a lot more work to achieve this look but the effort makes the piece like no other... the finish is a 23k, water gilt, burnished gold leaf with a water gilt white gold leaf(looks like silver) contrasting finish... finishing done by Sarah Porter Studios... the upholstery is museum quality, done by Bruno Paulin-Lopez

03/13/2023

today's submission is a fireplace surround we recently completed for Michael Simon Interiors... this was a team effort done in conjuncture with the fireplace people, who are artisians in their own wright, and the eglomise astisan... we made the solid brass inlays that border the textured glass pieces 5that were precisely cut to fit between the metal inlays... the inlays were also fit exactly in place and were then 23K gold plated... the glass pieces received an eglomise finish, again done by Miriam Ellner Studios... the white stone work was cut by the fireplace artisians as well as the polished black stonework of the mantel top and inside border of the hearth... an incredibly stunning piece designed by the decorator... again using the multiple talents of our shop and other artisans... very proud to have have executed such a one-of-a-kind type of surround that can truly be referred as a work of art

02/28/2023

the finished cabinet we made for Michael Simon Interiors, in the client's home(see previous post while in construction mode)... nice shaped stone top(note center projecting to match drawer fronts)... "twigs" finished in 23K real gold leaf, burnished and antiqued to designers taste... striaed, painted finish on the remainder of the cabinet... gilding and finishing done by the incredible artisans at Osmundo Studios... in person, this piece is so much more better looking than any photo could show!

06/24/2022

here at "Joseph Biunno Ltd./Finials Unlimited" we have to show, a partial sampling of 50-plus drapery poles of the many types of poles that we have been making for more than 30 years since we started "Finials Unlimited"... the styles are virtual limitless and consist of straight reeding and fluting, spiral twists of flutes and reeds, harlequins and on and on... the samples are many and finished in many combinations of paint, stain, gold and silver leafing to name a few options... these were often copied by others but never duplicated... we are truly the number one source for the finest drapery hardware ever produced

06/24/2022

this is the chair that started it all for Joseph Biunno Ltd. ... received a request from Parish-Hadley in the late 80's to make and finish a set of 12 of these hepplewhite chairs... it was early on in my career, my father had recently passed a few years prior, with a minimal but talented staff... it was the biggest job i had received to that date, both in size and estimated charges... all hand carved from an original chair provided and the finish was a hand painted, off-white with 23k real gold leaf, water gilt and burnished details... we had a very restrictive time period to finish the job, which we met, and the decorator and client were very pleased... with the proceeds I was able to reinvest into the company and purchased newer and better machinery, hired more help, other samples were done(drapery hardware!), some marketing was done and we were on our way!

05/31/2022