An Arts & Crafts Lakes School English Oak Table by James Cleasby Dent [Ex-Stanley Webb Davies]. A very attractive table from James Cleasby Dent, made to the standard you would expect from a Stanley Webb Davies craftsman. The sweeping legs and delicate chip carving really make it stand out. Featuring:

• 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).

• Single plank rectangular top with subtle curved edges.

• Sweeping legs on sledge feet with delicate chip carving.

Approximate dimensions are:

• Overall Height 453mm (1 foot 5 3/4 inches).

• Overall Length 600mm (1 foot 11 1/2 inches).

• Overall Depth 430mm (1 foot 4 3/4 inches).

1970.

Hand carved twin acorn motif, JCD monogram and date.

Excellent condition with good colour. 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.

James Cleasby Dent (Ex-Stanley Webb Davies) (1920 to 2003): An arts and crafts cabinet maker who started working at Stanley Webb Davies' Gatesbield workshop as a fee paying student, then become an apprentice and finally a fully qualified craftsman. He worked until there until 1954 before setting up his own workshop in Ravenstondale making a small number of items to the same exceptional standard as his Stanley Davies days. He used a carved twin acorn motif.

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.