Lot 193
GERALD SUMMERS (BRITISH 1899-1967)
TWO 'TV-T' STACKING TABLES, DESIGNED 1953
Auction: Day Two | Lots 100 to 527 | Fri 31 October from 10am
Description
each cast GERALD SUMMERS REGISTERED DESIGN NO. 871987 (to underside), cast aluminium, one with oak veneered wood and oak legs, the other with legs of black and red top.
Dimensions
46cm high, 33.5cm wide (18in high, 13 ¼in wide) and 45.5cm high, 33.5cm wide (17 7/8in high, 13 ¼in wide) (2)
Provenance
Private Collection, London.
Footnote
Literature:
Deese, Martha, Gerald Summers & Marjorie Butcher: Makers of Simple Furniture 1931-1940, Hatje Cantz, Berlin, 2024, p.281, fig.8.30, illustrated, for example of this model.
Gerald Summers’ ‘TV-T’ table stands out as one of the few designs he produced after the war, arriving more than ten years after the closure of his London company, Makers of Simple Furniture. On 30 October 1953, he formally registered the aluminium top with the Patent Office.
Promotional notes prepared at the time show that Summers conceived the piece as a versatile occasional table or stool—something equally at home in a sitting room, bedroom, or even a shop window as display furniture. The design emphasised practicality: the table could be put together in moments, the top resisted both heat and spills, and the pieces stacked neatly when not in use.
Two versions were offered. The veneered model, positioned at the higher end of the range, combined a gold, light, or dark green enamelled aluminium top with an inset veneer of sycamore (red or white), bird’s-eye maple, or oak, paired with legs in the same timber. The less costly enamelled model gave customers a wide choice of colours for the top, with legs in black or red beech, oak, or white ash.
