Octagonal Table and Chairs

This table with eight chairs was designed for 120 Pall Mall in 1928. The building was designed as a showroom and offices for Crane Bennett Limited, a manufacturer of top quality baths and plumbing, and as such was one of Lutyens's relatively few ventures into designing commercial premises. The table and chairs were intended for the boardroom, and the originals were photographed in place shortly after completion of the building. At what point they disappeared or where they are now is not clear as the building has been refitted several times since the war. The design of this set of furniture is very characteristic both of Lutyens's delight in 'games' in the way the chairs fit flush with each other as well as with the sides of the table, and his love and manipulation of geometric shapes as evidenced by the interlocking circles forming the chair backs. This motif also occurs in some Lutyens houses in designs for windows, most particularly at Ashwell Bury (1922) and at a small lodge on the Gledstone estate (1923).

The octagonal table is made from walnut with a panelled veneered top designed in such a way that the grain direction of the surface describes the surface underneath. Each chair, with its fretted back and front panel is also in walnut with a cane seat. The chairs either singularly or as a pair can be used as hall chairs or console features to great effect.

The Octagonal table and chairs can also be made in oak or cedar for outdoor use.

Octagonal Chair					Octagonal Table
width :		700mm / 2' 3+ half "			width :		1680mm / 5' 6"
Tall :		980mm / 3' 2 + half "			Tall :		980mm / 3' 2 + half "