Tony Cowan’s passion for woodworking inspired him to make his first table more than 35 years ago, while he was a philosophy student at Harvard. Through the years, the passion has only gotten more intense and now he will tell you that it has become an obsession.
By Johnny Gollin
Published: March, 2003
Tony Cowan’s passion for woodworking inspired him to make his first table more than 35 years ago, while he was a philosophy student at Harvard. Through the years, the passion has only gotten more intense and now he will tell you that it has become an obsession.
His Cottage Table Company, which he founded in 1974 with his wife, Jackie, specializes in one-of-a-kind tables. "We started making tables years ago in our farm house in Ireland. We wanted honest construction and natural proportions, with good solid planks of wood. Now we divide our time between Ireland and our San Francisco workshop near the Bay, just east of Potrero Hill. Two mature trees and possibly the largest wild rose bush in town, a mascot rabbit reincarnate, and lots of long-lived tables guard our parking lot."
Tony’s workshops have always been located along the San Francisco waterfront. When asked why, he responded, "San Francisco Bay together with the ocean are elements that make this area legitimate. It’s geologic time. Time and tide, incidentally, are the same word, as in good tidings. Tide refers to when the water is measured not to the movement of that water."
Tony and his team build tables that perform different functions ranging from console tables, dining tables and desks to altar pieces, restaurant tables, and board room tables. Each table is unique.
Tony has become one of the most accomplished craftsmen in his field and the Cottage Table company has made and sold thousands of his one-of-a-kind tables to an equal number of satisfied customers. "Our client roster includes some of the most notable, dynamic, and successful individuals in the Bay Area and beyond," says the San Francisco artisan.
Buyers of his tables have become friends and loyal followers. On March 1, he will be holding his 25th annual reunion celebration for them. They will gather in his workshop and drink champagne, surrounded by tables of ebony, variegated birds’-eye maple, cherry, ash, and mahogany. All of the beautiful woods are ecologically harvested.
The Cottage Table Company, 550 18th Street (near Third Street), San Francisco, (415) 957-1760.
