Sir Ambrose Heal (1872-1959) was a designer and businessman celebrated for raising standards in design and craftsmanship in British manufacturing, and in1933 he was knighted for his efforts. Like William Morris before him he championed good craftsmanship, fitness for purpose and reasonable prices. He sought to bring the values of the Arts and Crafts movement to industrial production.

This sideboard was made for the Exhibition des Arts Décoratifs de Grande Bretagne held at the Louvre, Paris in 1914. Its simplicity of form and decoration contrasts starkly with elaborate historicist styles of furniture that were popular before the First World War. As an exhibition piece the sideboard adheres to the highest standards of craftsmanship which could only have been achieved at considerable expense. Cheaper pieces of furniture in the same simplified style but with less expensive detailing would have been available in Heals’ stores in London.