Pembroke table thumbnail 1
Pembroke table thumbnail 2
Not currently on display at the V&A

Pembroke table

Table
1986 (made)
Artist/Maker
Alma Furniture Ltd (maker)
Adam, Robert (RIBA) (designer)
Place of origin
London (made)

Table in the classical revivalism style.


Object details

Categories
Furniture
Scotland
Object type
Table
Parts
This object consists of 2 parts.

  • Table
  • Drawer
TitlePembroke table (manufacturer's title)
Materials and techniques
Maple wood frame, myrtle burr top with ebonised inlay and satinwood edging, and cast bronze mounts
Maple
Myrtle
Satinwood
Bronze
Ebonised
Casting
Brief description
Pembroke table, 1986, British, designed by Robert Adam, made by Alma Furniture Ltd
Physical description
Table in the classical revivalism style.
Gallery label
  • PEMBROKE TABLE Designed by Robert Adam (British, b.1948) Made by Alma Furniture Ltd, London Maple wood frame, myrtle burr top with ebonised inlay and satinwood edging, and cast bronze mounts 1986 Collected as an example of the revivalism that has become a significant, if much debated, part of 1980s architecture and design, this table was designed by a leading classical revival architect. Designers such as Adam reject what they see as the poverty of modern design: its ruthless disregard for age-old traditions, its lack of concern with beautiful material and life-enriching ornamentation, and its inability to comfortably fit into our homes and cities. They believe that the classical language of design offers the fullest range of expressive and constructional possibilities. Opponents state that designs such as this table are inappropriate to the late twentieth century: it looks backwards rather than grappling with the issues of importance to contemporary life, that it specifically destroys the possibility of developing new languages and technologies, leaving us without the means to design an environment suitable for modern life. Purchased from Alma Furniture Ltd for £ W.28-1987(1990)
  • TABLE: PEMBROKE Designed by Robert Adam (British, born 1948) Made by Alma Furniture Ltd., London, Great Britain, 1986 Top: myrtle burr with ebonised inlay, and edged in satinwood; frame: maple wood with cast bronze mounts W.28-1987 Robert Adam is an architect working in a 'classical revival' style which alludes loosely to the work of the 19th-century architect, whose name he bears. This table revels in the use of beautiful materials and rich ornamentation relying on traditional techniques of surface veneers to achieve its effect.(1992)
Historical context
The designer, born 1948, is a leading practicioner of the 'classical revival' style in architecture, conceived as the successor to Post Modernism. This particualr piece is a thoroughgoing but electic piece of revivalism, paying homage to late C18th and early C19th styles, with perhaps a reference to Viennese secessionism.
Collection
Furniture and Woodwork Collection
Accession number
W.28:1, 2-1987

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Record createdFebruary 11, 2008
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O145021/pembroke-table-table-adam-robert-riba/
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