In this video we understand how furniture is designed, created and finished. Follow us on the journey of the Craftsman’s Table…
As Kirsty Whyte explains, a stunning new table has been designed for Heal’s.
Kirsty says: “It is part of an exclusive collaboration for Heal’s with two of our ex Heal’s designers, Anthony Dickens and Sebastian Cox. They both have a similar ethos to Heal’s about hand making processes and UK manufacturing. The tops have been sourced within the UK and the bases are hand forged in Suffolk.”
James Tyler explains: “With the continuous cover forestry method, it’s not always the best tree or the biggest tree or the trees that have grown to the optimum size that are the specimens that are picked for felling; sometimes it’s that a lesser tree is felled to allow better trees more space so that they can fulfil their potential. This is also why I am very pleased to be involved with this project of Seb’s and Anthony’s because it utilises timber that has limited markets. It celebrates timber with the defects and with variations in colour. "
Sebastian Cox explains: “Making the wooden components of the tree to table involves us going to the timber yard. We go to Tyler Hardwood’s and I meet with James and we select the boards and we bring them back to the shop. We prepare them in a way so that we are leaving much of the original board visible and present so the customer has that experience of having looked through the tabletops and get that fun element of exploring through the different types of wood. We’re offering the tree to table in limed beech, sycamore, oak and ash so there are different species to look at, different characteristics and different textures. It’s going to be a great experience for customers to come in and select their own table, essentially.”
Anthony Dickens: “Because it’s a waney edge table, you can see where it has come from, you can see its tree, you can see the edge of that table. And what was important to me for the leg was that you can see it’s been forged, it’s been battered around, but you can see where it’s come from. At the very top of the leg you can see the original section and you can then see every hammer mark that comes down through it. On both of them you can see where they’ve started from and the result.”
James Tyler: “The fact that we can trace the passage of the log from the forest floor right the way through to the shop floor is extremely important to people. The provenance of the material, the place where it came from, the forest where it grew adds huge value to the material. It means the material isn’t just a piece of plastic, it is a natural product that has its story and I think this story adds real value to the timber itself. “
Kirsty Whyte: “For the past 200 years, Heal’s has championed UK quality craftsmanship and sourcing British woodland and materials and we want to continue to do that for centuries more.”
