An Arts & Crafts Cotswold School Walnut Dining Table by Edward Barnsley and the Barnsley Workshop 1950. A classic Barnsley design which is very large, exceptionally elegant and made to the standard you expect of one of the UK’s premier Arts & Crafts makers. Easily seat at least 8 people. Elliptical tables are far more sociable that typical rectangular ones, allowing everyone to see and talk to each other, and more flexible in terms of seating numbers and positions. Featuring:

• Solid English Walnut throughout.

• Eliptical top made out of continuous pieces of very well figured walnut with curved edge and sycamore and ebony inlay around the edge.

• Wishbone legs sycamore and ebony inlay and arched stretcher.

Approximate dimensions are:

• Overall Length 2280mm (7 feet 5 3/4 inches).

• Overall Width 1070mm (3 feet 6 inches).

• Overall Height 750mm (2 feet 5 1/2 inches) [A standard height for a dining table].

post 1950.

The design is shown on page 173 of ‘Edward Barnsley and His Workshop: Arts and Crafts in the Twentieth Century’ by Annette Carruthers. The expected post 1948 "Barnsley" stamp (see page 163, Figure 80 in Edward Barnsley and his Workshop: Arts and Crafts in the Twentieth Century by Annette Carruthers, White Cockade Publishing, 1992).

Lovely clean condition with excellent rich colour and grain and tight joints. A few very minor marks and dints discoverable upon close inspection, although surprisingly few for the age of the item. 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.

A designer and maker of furniture, teacher and important figure in the 20th Century British Arts and Crafts movement. He is widely recognised as one of the most important British furniture designers of the twentieth century who developed the Arts and Crafts traditions established in the Cotswolds by his father Sidney. His work is known for it's clean modern forms with decorative details derived largely from utilitarian elements: exposed joinery, unusual panels, interesting pulls and latches and close to wood grain and pattern. His workshop still produces fine furniture as "The Barnsley Workshop".

Walnut is truly special timber with a delicious range of brown and grey creamy colours. The amount of feature depends on where the tree was grown, the best being English with its decorative grain, deep colouring, lustre and durability. It is highly prized for high class furniture, although its high cost and scarcity mean that solid walnut is only found in the very best items.

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.