 |
 |
|
|
Sir Edwin Lutyens
(1869-1944) is often described as the greatest
British architect of his age. His prolific career
encompassed manifest numbers of country houses,
fine commercial buildings, monuments and, as perhaps
his greatest achievement, the Viceroy's House,
the centrepiece of New Delhi, the city for which
he was responsible. Stylistically, he never fitted
into any single school or movement inasmuch as
the mark he left was always his own. Although influenced
early on by the Arts and Crafts movement of his
youth, and later by the discipline of the classical
ideal, his eclecticism was such that he was more
concerned with the intricacies of his own aesthetic
principles. That Lutyens was a designer of furniture
is not well known. His designs, though numerous,
were always produced in small quantities and for
a specific effect that was always a complement
to the whole. Sadly, almost no Lutyens's interiors
survive intact and many pieces of furniture have
been lost. Thus it
is that Lutyens's furniture has never become part
of the general consciousness, although on the merits
of the designs alone it should rank with, and take
its natural place alongside the furniture of all
the 'Twentieth Century Greats'. As with his architecture,
Lutyens in his furniture designs makes specific reference
to, and is influenced by, the substance and course
of the great English tradition of furniture making. |
|
Similarly too, the
form, the style and the synergy all bear the stamp
of his own individuality. Precise and intricate mathematical
details lend an element of surprise and Lutyens's
well-renowned love of jokes and 'visual puns' is
self-evident in many of the tricks he employs. The
result is, like many of his buildings, absolutely
controlled yet somehow astonishing - at first sight
conventional, yet encompassing at a second glance
both the whimsical and the paradoxical. In making
Lutyens's furniture to his own drawings, the task
of Lutyens Furniture Limited was both unique and
daunting in its application. Our responsibility to
the designs dictated that our prime and overriding
principle is that the quality of what we produce
should be as high as is possible to achieve. We therefore
went to considerable lengths to employ the best craftsmanship
that is available, in using traditional methods of
construction and upholstery, and to comply with Lutyens's
own tastes in terms of materials and timbers. As
a result, we have total confidence that these pieces
will continue for generations as furniture always
used to and as it should.
Candia Lutyens |
