Table
1903 (designed), 1905-1906 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Object Type
Houses designed by C. F. A. Voysey (1857-1941) were like large, idealised country cottages. Their unornamented furniture (generally made of oak like this table) reflected the informality of the rooms. This table was made by the London firm of F. C. Nielsen, which also made other furniture designed by Voysey.
Design & Designing
Voysey's contemporary, the architect M. H. Baillie Scott (1865-1945), wrote, 'If one were to sum up in a few words the scope and purposes of Mr Voysey's work, one might say that it consists mainly in the application of serenely sane, practical and rational ideas to homemaking'. Here, Voysey has eliminated all metal fixtures: the components are simply wedged together. The original design for this table, dated 1903, is in the Royal Institute of British Architects' Drawings Collection, London. An inscription on the drawing refers to a house in Buckinghamshire called Hollymount, built by Voysey in 1905-1906.
Places
Where did this table come from? A photograph of the living room at Hollymount shows a similar table. However, around the same time Voysey remodelled a house in Chelsea, London, for the politician E. J. Horniman. Photographs of rooms in this house also include tables of this design. We cannot be sure whether this table is one of those included in these photos.
Houses designed by C. F. A. Voysey (1857-1941) were like large, idealised country cottages. Their unornamented furniture (generally made of oak like this table) reflected the informality of the rooms. This table was made by the London firm of F. C. Nielsen, which also made other furniture designed by Voysey.
Design & Designing
Voysey's contemporary, the architect M. H. Baillie Scott (1865-1945), wrote, 'If one were to sum up in a few words the scope and purposes of Mr Voysey's work, one might say that it consists mainly in the application of serenely sane, practical and rational ideas to homemaking'. Here, Voysey has eliminated all metal fixtures: the components are simply wedged together. The original design for this table, dated 1903, is in the Royal Institute of British Architects' Drawings Collection, London. An inscription on the drawing refers to a house in Buckinghamshire called Hollymount, built by Voysey in 1905-1906.
Places
Where did this table come from? A photograph of the living room at Hollymount shows a similar table. However, around the same time Voysey remodelled a house in Chelsea, London, for the politician E. J. Horniman. Photographs of rooms in this house also include tables of this design. We cannot be sure whether this table is one of those included in these photos.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Oak, originally unpolished and unstained; present dark varnish is a later addition |
| Brief description | British 1905-6 des. Voysey man. F.C.Nielsen |
| Physical description | Circular oak table. The top rests on four curved supports, the ends of these slot into a cylinder which is wedged between two hemispheres; the cylinder is supported by four more curved supports, which are also slotted into it. |
| Dimensions |
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| Production type | Limited edition |
| Gallery label |
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| Object history | The table was designed as part of the furnishings of Knotty Green (subsequently called Hollymount), the house Voysey designed for C.T. Burke near Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire. The design drawing of the table is dated by Voysey 1903, although the table was probably made in1905-6 when the house was completed. Two tables of the same design appear in photographs of Garden Corner, Chelsea, an interior conversion completed by Voysey for E.J. Horniman in 1906-7. At the time of acquisition the vendor suggested the table (which was one of a pair on offer) may have been one from Corner Green, Chelsea. |
| Production | Reason For Production: commission |
| Summary | Object Type Houses designed by C. F. A. Voysey (1857-1941) were like large, idealised country cottages. Their unornamented furniture (generally made of oak like this table) reflected the informality of the rooms. This table was made by the London firm of F. C. Nielsen, which also made other furniture designed by Voysey. Design & Designing Voysey's contemporary, the architect M. H. Baillie Scott (1865-1945), wrote, 'If one were to sum up in a few words the scope and purposes of Mr Voysey's work, one might say that it consists mainly in the application of serenely sane, practical and rational ideas to homemaking'. Here, Voysey has eliminated all metal fixtures: the components are simply wedged together. The original design for this table, dated 1903, is in the Royal Institute of British Architects' Drawings Collection, London. An inscription on the drawing refers to a house in Buckinghamshire called Hollymount, built by Voysey in 1905-1906. Places Where did this table come from? A photograph of the living room at Hollymount shows a similar table. However, around the same time Voysey remodelled a house in Chelsea, London, for the politician E. J. Horniman. Photographs of rooms in this house also include tables of this design. We cannot be sure whether this table is one of those included in these photos. |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | W.19-1981 |
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| Record created | May 27, 1999 |
| Record URL |
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