In an age when most furniture is designed on a computer, the beauty of antique wood is usually confined to exactly that—antiques. At Démiurge, furniture designer Rachel Shorr has launched a line of reclaimed-wood tables, challenging the notion that a modern piece of furniture must have only modern character. At once elegant and rustic, the 22 models in the collection—ranging from end tables to large-scale consoles and dining tables—blur the distinction between old and new. By combining traditional and contemporary elements unexpectedly, Shorr is adding her own dash to pieces that have long been a familiar feature of rooms by European designers like Axel Vervoordt and Jacques Grange, and, stateside, Rose Tarlow and Waldo Fernandez.  Why tables? Shorr, the niece of the late and much-admired antiques dealer Amy Perlin, explains that along with her charisma and plainspokenness, her aunt was known for her farmhouse tables. After Perlin's death, in 2010, Shorr opened Démiurge in her aunt's old space on Manhattan's East 61st Street, where she is carrying on a family legacy of furniture on a dramatic scale with a subtle patina—pieces equally at home in a farmhouse or a chateau.  The top of an Atelier Démiurge table is constructed of antique wood—typically walnut, chestnut or oak—sourced in Europe by Shorr herself. All orders are bespoke, so any size is available. The matching and assembly of boards are done in a local workshop; most tables have surfaces of solid wood, but larger examples may be veneered, for which only antique veneer panels are used. Supports are newly made, with wood for the legs or trestles selected to blend with vintage materials that are—to take nothing away from the elegant designs—the soul of these pieces.  As anyone with an eye for furniture knows, finishing is the moment when a simply good piece can become magnificent. As for the head restorer, Shorr will reveal only that hers—"a great artist"—travels to New York City from Belgium every other month to supervise the completion of each table. Asked about technique, Shorr—who, in her late 20s, is surprisingly young to have mastered such a sophisticated craft—is cordial but tight-lipped.  Her discretion is understandable: Wood that started life as part of a convent in Provence, for instance, has waited 200 years to look this lovely. And you get to have dinner on it.
A new line of perfectly rusticated tables blends the finest pedigree of salvaged wood with customized designs. Introducing Atelier Démiurge.