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