Alvar Aalto table  

No
Not Aalto. Leg bend is the easiest way to tell, but this one has many other differences.

Thanks, Woodywood
What exactly should I be looking out for in the future? How does the bend differ?

Patented
This is Aalto's patented bent leg design. The leg is not made from plywood but rather solid wood with splints inserted in the end to allow for the bend.
http://www.google.com/patents?id=G3hAAAAAEBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=alv...

Very helpful,
and the patent had a clear description of the process.
Thanks again

Mr Aalto
specifically mentions that the cuts "preferably" extend at different lengths into the workpiece -- but no explanation is given as to the reason for this preference. Could it be merely a way to help disguise the lamination ? Oddly, the drawing shows that the outermost cuts don't even extend fully into the area being bent . . .

SDR, my guess is that experimentation
proved that having the splines terminate at equal lengths created a weak section.
What's amazing to me is that the radial pattern was used for counter-veneering the bottom of this table, too!

Thanks, tktoo.
While it might seem an unnecessary indulgence to match the veneer pattern on the reverse of a panel, technically it is a very good move. We learned this the hard way at one of the shops I was attached to, when a large cabinet door of 3/4" material was veneered in the face in a checkerboard pattern while the reverse was veneered in the usual way. The panel warped almost immediately into a complex potato-chip shape. In hindsight, the portions of the door where the veneer ran vertically on one face and horizontally on the other were destined to warp. The veneering design was specified in our office and the panel produced by a reputable veneering house who had always given superb service. Everyone missed this one . . . !

Wow Dan!
What a beautiful little table.
All the best,

Maybe
Betty Joel?
Just instinct.

no, these were made in...
no, these were made in Czechoslovakia, had some identical stamped ones

.
I wonder if this process coud be utilised to make internal bends, ie cut stepped comb ends on 2 pieces on a bandsaw, then glue them together in a press, like interlocking your fingers.

The Aalto patent
mentions that as a possibility.
You can imagine that this would require close calculation of the lengths of the "fins" projecting from both pieces, to fully fill the slots after the two are joined -- and bent. And, the slots would have to match the thickness of the voids. But I suppose it could be done. I don't recall an Aalto piece thus made, do you ?

Havn't seen anything, another...
Havn't seen anything, another way to do a similar thing would be to water jet cut the slots in one piece where you want the bend then glue the splints in there and bend, probably not viable cost wise though.