An Arts & Crafts Cotswold School English Oak ‘Coxwell’ design Wardrobe by Gordon Russell c.1929. A lovely quality Gordon Russell 1920’s oak wardrobe which is a super example of the simplicity and beauty of the early Gordon Russell designs. Featuring:

• English Oak.

• Very well figured quarter-sawn English Oak (quarter-sawing is a way of sawing oak to produce boards with superior strength which also reveals decorative 'medullary rays' in its grain).

• Back with four with single plank fielded cedar panels surrounded by rails and stiles joined by blind tenons.

• Cedar top to base with slotted screw fixing to allow for movement.

• 2 doors with fielded panels surrounded by rails and stiles joined by blind tenons enclosing a single shelf and hanging rail.

• Hand carved octagonal bog oak handles.

Approximate dimensions are:

• Overall Height 1820mm (5 feet 11 1/2 inches).

• Overall Width 910mm (2 feet 11 3/4 inches).

• Overall Depth 560mm (1 foot 10 inches).

c.1929.

Made for Cleeve House, Cleeve Prior, Worcestershire and purchased vias the Gordon Russell Trust. Another example of this design can be seen at Mallams “Design, Modern British & Post War Art” Sale 08 Dec 2016. Lot 288.

Overall lovely original condition with excellent rich colour and grain, original finish, snugly closing doors and tight joints. Minor signs of wear, some scratches and marks the edges, corners and handles, but far less than would normally be expected with an item that has been in use for almost 100 years and with no restoration work carried out. If you wish to have further specific photographs or talk to us for a more detailed condition report then please do not hesitate to contact us.

One of the most important names in British design and a leading maker of arts and crafts furniture. His early furniture was hand-made in small numbers to a very high standard, adopting the Cotswold School philosophy pioneered by Ernest Gimson and the Barnsleys of usefulness and truth to materials. Always passionate about high standards of craftsmanship, many of his 1930s designs evolved to bridge the gap from the early arts and crafts movement to modern, minimalist forms while retaining the quality of materials and construction expected of the best Arts & Crafts furniture.

The most British of woods, that can produce really special results. English oak has been used for hundreds of years to construct everything from sea-going vessels to fine furniture. Although oak grows widely across Europe and North America, craftsmen continue to cherish English oak which grows more slowly than its foreign counterparts giving it strength, durability. Quarter sawn boards are very straight grained and have distinctive growth rings and medullary rays that give a very beautiful effect as well as being renowned for their superior stability and strength.

The Cotswold School was a development of the Arts and Craft Movement started largely by Ernest Gimson and the brothers Sidney and Ernest Barnsley. The furniture is instantly recognisable with its simple lines, attention to the finest of details, and use of beautiful materials. Cotswold School designs were crafted from local materials using traditional tools and techniques and with decorative details derived largely from utilitarian elements: exposed joinery, unusual panels, interesting pulls and latches crafted either from wood or from metal using traditional smithing techniques, and close attention to form as well as to wood grain and pattern. Where decorative details were added they generally took the form of traditional embellishment such as exposed joints, chamfered edges and chip carved edge details. The style was embraced and developed by other designers and craftsmen including Gordon Russell, Stanley Webb Davies in Cumbria, Sid Barnsley's son Edward, Arthur Romney Green in Hampshire, Robin Nance in St Ives and Ambrose Heal are a handful of such men out of many. The best developed their own style within the established tradition.