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Prototype table leg

Table Leg
2006 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

These four prototype table legs (W.6-2016, W.7-2016, W.8-2016, W.9-2016) relate to another object in the V&A collection, the ‘George’ chest of drawers (W.14-2013), which was purchased through the Design Fund in 2013. As prototypes, they show a clear progression of thought by the maker, Gareth Neal. In his words, they demonstrate his ‘journey to George’. Made in 2006 using cheap timber, each prototype took about a day to make.

With this second prototype Neal went further with the removal of the horizontal planes, deliberately breaking all of them off close to their roots. It was at this point he realised it was not the raw, broken appearance that he liked, but the relationship between the clean-cut lines of the first prototype and the ragged stubs left by the accidental breakages. Gareth Neal is a progressive and collaborative East London design and craft studio that harmoniously unites traditional and digital techniques to create uniquely crafted pieces. In 2021 the studio was an International Kogei Award Grand Prize Winner for their SiO2 Twisted Vessel.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitlePrototype table leg (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Pine cut with a bandsaw
Brief description
Prototype table leg, pine cut with a bandsaw; Gareth Neal, London, 2006
Physical description
Prototype table leg, pine cut with a bandsaw forming horizontal planes. Most of the planes have been deliberately chiselled off close to the leg.
Production typePrototype
Credit line
Given by Gareth Neal
Object history
Handmade by Gareth Neal in 2006. Neal gave these pieces (W.6-2016, W.7-2016, W.8-2016 and W.9-2016) to the V&A in 2016 [2016/55].
Subject depicted
Summary
These four prototype table legs (W.6-2016, W.7-2016, W.8-2016, W.9-2016) relate to another object in the V&A collection, the ‘George’ chest of drawers (W.14-2013), which was purchased through the Design Fund in 2013. As prototypes, they show a clear progression of thought by the maker, Gareth Neal. In his words, they demonstrate his ‘journey to George’. Made in 2006 using cheap timber, each prototype took about a day to make.

With this second prototype Neal went further with the removal of the horizontal planes, deliberately breaking all of them off close to their roots. It was at this point he realised it was not the raw, broken appearance that he liked, but the relationship between the clean-cut lines of the first prototype and the ragged stubs left by the accidental breakages. Gareth Neal is a progressive and collaborative East London design and craft studio that harmoniously unites traditional and digital techniques to create uniquely crafted pieces. In 2021 the studio was an International Kogei Award Grand Prize Winner for their SiO2 Twisted Vessel.
Associated objects
Collection
Accession number
W.7-2016

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Record createdJanuary 25, 2016
Record URL
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