A Visit to McLain-Wiesand Studio

I had a late afternoon meeting, so I called my friend David to meet up for a drink at the café next to his workshops and studios at McLain-Wiesand. It had been a while since I’d had a look around the workshops, so after our cocktails, we wandered back to look at what’s new. First and foremost, David’s selling antiques again. He started out in a shop along Baltimore’s Antiques Row, and then eventually opened his current space, which is a treasure trove of old and new items.

As you walk through the shop, you see several sets of Baltimore-style chairs that David has reproduced, sometimes for local museums, and even for the White House. The top set is more in the klismos style, while the bottom ones are more straight-forward.

Everywhere you look something reflects David’s whimsical and quirky sense of humor, and yes, style.

Both David and I are inveterate auction-goers, and have sometimes found that we are bidding against each other on the same items.

When we walked through to the workshops, I was astonished, as I always am, by David’s creativity and what he and his staff produce. This custom table is made to look like old ivory, complete with joins, cracks and small bolts to hold it together. It is really a stunning piece.

This long console table will grace a space here in Baltimore, although much of David’s work is custom-made for decorators across the country.

David is constantly tinkering, and creating new techniques for his pieces. Here’s a mirror that he’s added a school of fish to. Somehow, it’s done on the back of the mirror, so that it still reflects, but you can see the pattern. It’s really unique.

This is a wonderful classic piece which David is making in consultation with the client. The gilding is all done by hand, piece by piece. These are still in progress.

Thanks to David for showing me around! If you’re interested in anything you see, or would like to commission a custom piece of furniture, which will become an heirloom, please contact David, here.