Jeff Segal Cabinetmaker - Handmade furniture in the Arts and Crafts tradition

Sussex pine office desk

Pine desk front viewPine desk drawersPine desk three-quarters viewPine desk joint detail

Pine desk three-quarters viewPine desk rear view

Office desk in solid Sussex pine

This desk for a busy working office started life as a full-scale prototype for a later version in oak, but as the colour and character of the timber emerged it soon became a project in its own right. It's built entirely by hand from native Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) felled and milled at the Cowdray Estate near Midhurst in Sussex. It's rare nowadays to see home-grown pine used in furniture: sadly, most if it goes to fencing while the UK imports huge quantities from the Baltic.

The design is functional above all, but the form reflects the teachings of the Arts and Crafts movement. The joints are exposed from every angle, and the protruding tenons, the contrasting end grain and the rich figure of the timber create all the ornament an item of furniture might need. The interlocking pegged joints work like the post-and-beam construction of a mediaeval barn and give the desk enormous strength as well as a simple beauty.

To find out more about how this piece was built, take a look at my project log.

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