History

On Dempster Street, in Evanston, I push the door of the café. Sipping on Americano, I think back to my childhood, before returning to my busy conservation studio.

Twenty five years ago a little boy pushes the creaky attic door of the century-old French manor. A pale light filters through spider webs into the room. Heart pounding, the boy explores this museum of the past. Sitting on a broken-legged table, a plumed helmet of a member of Napoleon's regiment is ready to recount famous battles. In a closet, military uniforms patiently await their owners' return. Cavalry boots also sit in order, kept in shape by wooden blocks. Yet another closet is full of old dusty books: history, philosophy, Latin grammar and even menupapers from the First World War.

Suddenly, while pulling out some books, Benoit notices a box half hidden in the rear. It is heavy wood, and even the lock is covered with dust. After forcing it with a pocketknife, the lock relents and the box snaps open. Stamped within the box lid is the date "1873." Twenty-three carving chisels are piled inside. In awe, the child examines each of them; he admires the pure shape of the steel with glints of blue, caresses the warm wooden handles. If only they could talk!

Ten years later, enrolled in a trade school in Belgium, Benoit, a young adult, spends several years learning the craft of Ebenisterie, the art of fine furniture design and fabrication. At the hundred-year-old school, drawing is essential to mastering shapes and proportions, as well as expressing in three dimensions the way a piece is built. The goal is to be able to build a piece exclusively with hand tools. Eventually, planning the wood, making assemblies, and carving moldings come as naturally as breathing. In addition, ornamental sculpture, marquetry and traditional finishes must be mastered.

Benoit returns to his native Loire Valley in 1987 to open his first studio, in the stables of the "Chateau de Veretz". For several years, he serves customers both in the Loire Valley and Paris, restoring fine furniture and making quality custom-designed pieces.

After nine years in the US, where he worked for an extensive clientele of collectors, dealers, interior decorators and architects building high-end custom design furniture and cabinetry, as well as restoring quality antiques, he lives now in the west of Paris where he designs and make quality antique reproductions and custom-made contemporary pieces. He also offers French custom excursions and classes.