Philip (1907-1987) and Kelvin (b. 1937) LaVerne operated as artist-furniture makers creating one of a kind and limited edition pieces that would be both functional and for display. Father and son made patinated and sculpted bronze tables and cabinets combining innovative techniques such as casting bronze in low-relief sheets with traditional styles in a way that has rarely been matched since for its idiosyncratic artistry.

Their unique production methods and goals are far more aligned with today's avant-garde furniture designers than they were with either the high-end upholsters or the mass-production modernists who dominated the scene in their own day. The technique used by Philip and Kelvin was based on bronze-casting methods that ...