The question of where one get's one's ideas often arrises. The answers are always varied. For me, I never know when or where the next one will strike or what the "inspiration" will be. But, for better or for worse, come they do. This is the second time I have had an idea for a turning while playing chess. The idea of a split finial has been around for a long time. I have no idea (no pun intended) who did it first but I can say that the first one I ever saw was on a Mark Sanger piece.
It was not my original intention to make a finial like this. I was planning on a hollow form on a pedestal with a fairly "conventional" finial. But this thought broke in and I was stuck with it. This is my first attempt at a "carved" finial and I may be tempted to pursue this further. On the other hand, it might look just a bit too much like a clothes pin to be worth investing much more than a "oh well" on.
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