An Arts & Crafts Lakes School English Oak Desk by Arthur W. Simpson (The Handicrafts, Kendal) C. 1920. A very pleasingly simple but elegant design of remarkably modern form, with plenty of space to work and store items. A rare original item of Simpson furniture. Featuring:

• Solid English Oak

• Rectangular top made out continuous pieces of very well figured quarter-sawn solid oak

• 2 banks of 4 graduated drawers (made with single plank fronts solid drawer carcasses joined with hand-cut lap and through dovetails)

• Custom made ebonised handles

• Ebonised plinth base

Approximate dimensions are:

• Overall Width 1350mm (4 feet 5 inches)

• Overall Height 790mm (2 feet 7 inches)

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

C. 1920

'Arthur W. Simpson (Hubert Simpson) The Handicrafts Kendal' label (matching figure 139 in The Beautiful Furniture of The Simpsons of Kendal by Hugh Wright, Bookcase Carlisle, 2011)

Good condition with smoothly sliding drawers, tight joints, excellent colour and grain. Some light marks and fading in places. 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.

Arthur W. Simpson and his Kendal based furniture making company 'The Handicrafts' was a renowned arts and crafts maker associated with very high quality hand crafted furniture, who worked with by members of the Artworker's Guild, such as Voysey and Baillie-Scott. Today, items of Simpson furniture are hard to find and avidly collected. Materials, workmanship and design are always of the highest quality

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