An Arts & Crafts Lakes School English Oak Dining Table by Peter Hall of Staveley. A lovely table from the early days of Peter Hall (founded in 1973) with one on the most decorative tops we have seen. Provides a very generous space for 6 diners, yet stores in a space on 650mm wide if not needed. The drawer is perfect for storing coasters, napkins etc. Oval tables are far more sociable that typical rectangular ones, allowing everyone to see and talk to each other. Featuring:

• Solid English Oak throughout.

• 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).

• Oval drop leaf top made out of continuous pieces of very well figured quarter-sawn solid timber with button screwed fixing.

• Single drawer (made with single plank front solid drawer carcass joined with hand-cut lap and through dovetails and solid base with slotted screw holes).

• Hand turned legs joined by stretchers.

• Traditional blind tenons secured with hand made pegs.

Approximate dimensions are:

• Overall Width 1200mm (3 feet 11 inches).

• Overall Height 740mm (2 feet 5 inches) [A standard height for a dining table].

• Overall Length Folded 650mm (2 feet 1 1/2 inch).

• Overall Length Extended 1660mm (5 feet 5 1/4 inches).

1978.

Peter Hall hand carved signature PH 'crosslet' motif.

Excellent colour and grain, tight joints and original finish, A few very minor marks and dints discoverable upon close inspection, but far less than expected with an item that has been in use for 45 years. 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.

Peter Hall & Son of Staveley is a leading contemporary hand made arts and crafts furniture maker, founded in 1972, following in the tradition of Arthur W. Simpson of Kendal and Stanley Webb Davies of Windermere. Known for its distinctive designs in locally grown air dried oak, materials, workmanship and design are always of exceptional quality. Pieces rarely come up for resale.

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 Arts & Crafts Lakes School was a development of the Arts and Craft Cotswold School. The most significant designers and makers were Arthur Simpson, in Kendal, Stanley Webb Davies at Windermere and the Keswick School of Industrial Arts. Peter Hall of Staveley still produces furniture in this tradition. The Lakes School maintained the ideals with its simple lines, attention to the finest of details, the use of beautiful locally materials and the focus traditional tools and techniques. In fact Stanley Webb Davies' workshop didn't use any power tools at all, even to cut logs from timber! The dominant material was English Oak and typical decorative details often include exposed joints and subtle carved details.