For at least as long as I’ve had diabetes, I’ve maintained a list of 50 things that I would like to do before I die, periodically revising various entries to better reflect my interests as they have changed over time. My passion for things of true quality is tied to my woodworking hobby, and although I have completed a number of miscellaneous small projects, #14 on my “list of 50” remains unfulfilled: hand-carve a wooden ball & claw.

So it was not without a teensy trace of excitement that I was able to walk over to the America’s Cup Avenue showroom of world-class furniture maker Jeffrey Greene, The Ball & Claw. On this snowy Friday afternoon, I was welcomed into the store by a wonderfully knowledgeable woman named Carol, who provided a bit of history on Mr. Greene’s career in making reproduction period furniture based on the masterpiece works of Goddard and Townsend, the finest furniture makers of 18^th century Newport.

Many examples of Greene’s work are showcased on both floors of the shop. I found tea tables, highboys, lowboys, mirrors, boxes, and shelves of books on American furniture authored by Greene and others. I was free to inspect the furniture as closely and for as long as I liked, and while I always knew Greene to be a preeminent expert in the field, seeing and running my pock-marked fingertips over the fabulous pieces he has produced left me with no doubt as to his ranking among the most gifted furniture craftsmen on Earth. Subtle, telltale signs in his workmanship indicate the absence of modern production methods, as if the very soul of the artisan resides beneath the surface of the wood.

An unmistakable quality and authenticity exudes from every piece of work in The Ball & Claw showroom. It comes from Greene’s passion for getting things right. He is self-taught, works alone, and established for himself a work environment that allows few, if any, interruptions in the course of his day. Productivity on this level is impossible to achieve when distractions continually break up the flow of meticulous concentration. That clients willingly wait two years or more for delivery of their orders attests to the significance of owning one of his pieces.

For me, there was no greater magnetism than that coming from a corner chair in the middle of the first floor display. Everything about this piece demonstrates unsurpassed excellence in craftsmanship, from the virtually perfect antique leather upholstered seat, to the open talon ball & claw feet. If you look closely at the above photo, you will see the open space that Greene has carved between the surface of the ball and the underside of the talon. This astonishing attention to painstaking detail was the order of the day for Newport’s finest craftsmen of the 1700s. Today, workmanship of this caliber demonstrates an inspiring exercise in quality that I am very thankful to have experienced firsthand.

When I get back home, I’m going to start right in on #14. You’ll understand if I don’t share a photo when it’s done, won’t you?