Craftsman Peter Downing’s unique chess sets are destined to become heirlooms
Peter Downing of Pebble Mountain Woodcrafts in St. Margaret’s Bay, N.S., had been making charcuterie boards, jewelry boxes, and other items using exotic woods when a customer asked him to make a chessboard. Intrigued, he designed a board and its pieces, and the resulting creation sparked requests for more orders. The design showcase many woods, including wenge, curly maple, paduak, red oak, walnut, and African mahogany.
“Its large size combined with the iconic styling of the pieces gives it a timeless look,” Peter says. “It’s a piece that would look at home in a Victorian mansion but would be equally impressive 100 years from now, sitting in your grandchild’s modern rec room.”
An entire chess set takes between 80 and 100 hours to finish. He hand turns each piece as a spindle and then shapes the top and adds accents, a process that can run between 45 minutes and two hours.
Peter calls himself a “very old-school carpenter-styled woodworker,” who spent years as restoring buildings before taking up fine woodworking. He doesn’t use computers and prefers standard, simple tools, many of which are old and handed down, to manipulate and shape wood in complex ways. “All of my designs are completely mine,” he adds. “I tend to do my own experiments for cutting and shaping.”
There’s no metal hardware involved, and Peter uses the natural colours of woods, finishing them with environmentally friendly, non-toxic finishes. The result is a master class in wood craftmanship, and a gift to last for generations. You can find Peter at the Halifax Brewery Market every Saturday, or contact him via his website. Pebblemountainwoodcrafts.ca