Creating the Guilloche Console
I spend my New York winters studying design. Fifteen years ago, I saw an intriguing pattern in a book. It was “Historic Ornament,” by J Ward (1897). The pattern was this classic Greco-Roman guilloche motif, taken from a church in Venice, Italy.
I pasted the image on a bulletin board and subsconsciously viewed it over the years, while it brewed inside me.
In Spring 2024, in preparation for the ICFF, I decided to create this Venetian pattern in Venetian terrazzo, as a console. What follows is a pictorial chronicle of the many steps in the design and fabrication of this dignified piece.
After laying out the full-scale pattern on paper, comes sheet metal fabrication, as seen here in my workshop (left).
Using 1-1/2 inch strips of galvanized sheet metal, I am forming circles using my slip roll. All elements will be cold connected using stove bolts and threaded rods. This mould is essentially a cookie cutter that will help me to “print” an image. Metal fabrication is one of the hidden skills within precast terrazzo.
The pattern can also be created in brass cloisonne’ strip, for embedding within the piece. The finished mould should conform to the drawing, of course.
Here is an image of the finished mould (right).
Next step is to think about the colors of the cement matrices and the marble varieties. Here are some color studies done to help with design decisions (left).
The color samples are done to lock in the mineral pigment recipes and to ensure good contrast between bordering fields of terrazzo.
Creating cement colors is quite tedious. All pigments are naturally occurring minerals, and must be proportioned and weighed as dry powders along with the white or gray portland cements. All sample combinations are weighed and recorded dry on a triple-beam balance scale, measured to the gram. This is a dusty process.
The powders are forced through a fine brass sieve then mixed (left). This ensures a consistent color.
The samples are then cast. Twenty samples were cast for this (right).
As with all terrazzo, the samples must be coarsely ground down, grouted with matching color cement matrix, then finely ground down to assess the actual color combinations.
This takes several days for each round of samples.
The samples are done and ready to be assessed (left).
After selecting final colors, the cement matrices are mixed according to sample recipes and put into sealed pails and are labeled.
Next step is to select and blend the sizes of the various colored marble aggregates. These are placed into pails as well.
The steel reinforcement is next prepared.
Strength here is critical, as the terrazzo piece must be strong for one or several lifetimes of use, but especially to resist the extreme pressures of aggressive machine grinding.
Casting the Guilloche Console is now imminent. Masonry tools are laid out (left).
The Guilloche mould is made fast within the form (below).
The various wet terrazzo mixes are placed and finally the mould is carefully removed, leaving this mosaic “print.” (left) The piece is damp cured for several days and then allowed to dry out completely over several more days.
It is time to move the piece to our large, leather belt-driven overarm polisher that dates from 1913 (above).
First the back is ground flat (left). Next, the terrazzo face is thoroughly ground down (below).
After rough grinding, all mosaic areas must be masked and grouted with corresponding colors (left).
Next day, the grout is ground off with a fine stone and the whole piece is then finely honed. The piece is lastly polished to a bright, reflective finish (right).
As the preceding reveals, there is a great deal of preparation and many steps involved in this work. The Guilloche Console is a highly designed and researched piece of art furniture, with strong Greco-Roman references. It is made from the classic natural mosaic materials of stone and cement, along with respectful assiduous craftsmanship.
The Guilloche Console was created in April 2024. It had its debut the very next month at the ICFF show at the Javits Center in New York City. Since our first appearance at the ICFF in 1990, this is our 18th exhibit at this show. It is the nation’s largest design trade fair, which began in 1989. This our 46th year of terrazzo artisanry.
Terrazzo by Lorenzo 