Gerald Summers Dining Table - Made by Makers of Simple Furniture (1931-1940)

Gerald Summers Dining Table - Made by Makers of Simple Furniture (1931-1940).

Circa 1935.

Birch Ply with a Traffolyte Covered Surface.

This dining table retains its original heat resistant traffolyte surface and is typical of Summers' love of simple, economical and practical design.

The most innovative designer in Britain in the 1930's Gerald Summers' significance is only now being appreciated as emphasis has heretofore been placed upon the achievements of European and Scandinavian designers and because 'Makers of Simple Furniture' was a small company, producing mainly to order, without the publicity machine of larger workshops. However by the middle of the decade his designs were offered by the major retailers of modern furniture including Heals and Harrods in London, Marshall Field in Chicago and James Pendleton in New York.

Provenanace:
UK Private Collection.

Museums & Exhibitions:
Victoria & Albert Museum: Summers is included in the new 20th Century Furniture Galleries which opened in November, 2012.
Museum of Modern Art, New York 2014 Exhibition: The Magic of Plywood.
Metropolitan Museum, New York.
Vitra Design Museum.
Thirties British Art and Design before the War organized by the Arts Council of Great Britain, London 1979.
'Constructivism in Art & Design' Crafts Council Gallery, London 1988.

Bibliography:
The Design History Journal 1992 Vol.5 No.3 - precis of Masters' thesis by Martha Deese, Metropolitan Museum New York.
Gerald Summers: Furniture For the Concrete Age Dunn and Mantz pub. 2012.
1000 Chairs Charlotte and Peter Fiell, Cologne 2000 p.232.
Design for Today 1934.
100 Masterpieces Vitra Design Museum.
Furnishing the small Home published London and New York 1930's by the Studio Ltd.
A History of British Design 1839-1970 Fiona McCarthy pub. 1972.
Bent Wood and Metal Furniture 1850-1946 University of Washington Press edited by Derek E. Ostergard.

Dimensions

This object is eligible for a Certificate of BADA Provenance

Stock number