Lot 99
SIR ROBERT LORIMER (1864-1929) FOR LIBERTY & CO., LONDON
LIMED OAK CENTRE TABLE, CIRCA 1924
Auction: 15 June 2011 at 12:00 BST
Description
the rectangular moulded top with later inset brass metre rule, above a deep apron, raised on spirally fluted turned legs on platform stretchers linked by a stretcher and with moulded pad feet, stamped mark '8208'
Dimensions
152cm long, 75.5cm high, 76cm wide
Footnote
Provenance: Liberty & Co. London
Furniture from Liberty & Co's Tudor Shop
The following collection of Arts and Crafts furniture was all made in the early 1920s for Liberty & Co's magnificent Tudor building in Great Marlborough Street. The building was designed by Edwin Thomas Hall and his son, Edwin Stanley Hall, at the height of the 1920s fashion for the Tudor revival, and constructed from the timbers of two 19th century men-of-war battleships. The Liberty board wanted the new building to demonstrate craft of the highest quality and attention to detail, and to reflect the Arts and Crafts values of "truth to material" which had played such an important part in the foundation of the company and the goods that it sold.
Engineered around three galleried light wells, the shop was intended to emulate the great atrium spaces of Bon Marché and Printemps in Paris, whilst also remaining true to the design of the original shop in Regent Street in the series of smaller rooms which surrounded these central wells.
Under the supervision of the architects, a collection of furniture was made for the rooms and galleries to display the textiles, clothes and luxury goods the shop was so famous for. It is represented by a series of tables, chests and display cabinets, all made in the 16th century style, with pegged construction and decorative details complementing the design details in the building. The finish is either a dark fumed, natural, or limed finish, also a characteristic of the wood finish of the rooms in which they once stood. All the furniture was made in the firm's workshops in Highgate and demonstrates the same levels of craftsmanship and attention to detail as the building itself.
The tables offered here are the remaining pieces from a selection of historic furniture no longer suitable for contemporary retailing at Liberty & Co. Long attributed to Sir Robert Lorimer, they are designed in the 16th century manner, with substantial oak planked tops, either octagonal or rectangular, raised on spirally fluted legs with platform stretchers.