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A discrete symphony of elegance and grace
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Glissade special edition in Bog Oak
An intimate writing desk About Download PDF
Dimensions
1.45 x 0.64 x 0.81 m
57.1 x 25.2 x 31.9 in
An icon of civilised education since the 18th century, the writing desk is a focus for the display of master cabinet-maker’s skills and the beauty and abundance of materials. Glissade appropriates and subtly updates this tradition with its understated elegance.
Wales & Wales, the award winning designers who have conceived of this powerfully restrained object follow this tradition. Renowned for timeless, intelligent design since 1980 they have pieces in the permanent collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum, London and the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. With their typical attention to detail, they have developed a symphony in ash.
Master craftsman Gary Tuddenham, winner of the worldwide gold medal in cabinet-making from the World Skills Competition, and member of the Edward Barnsley Workshop, has lovingly coaxed the wood into this elegant desk.
An angulated rippled ash surface floats above olive ash legs. The ash is over one hundred years old and was sawn from the wood of a single tree. The olive ash is the separately named inner heart of the ash tree which appears to have a deeper tone of rippled grain which grows darker with age.
The far right corner of the desk houses a partially concealed red lacquer compartment under a boxwood-hinged ash cover. Its unusual shade of red with orange undertones is inspired by the colour of the Lazcano suite made for the Duke of Infantando in 1720 by Giles Grendey. A secret button marked only by an ‘M’ in marquetry of pre-historic oak allows the entire desk to glide silently sideways to reveal a luxurious leather lined hiding place. The silent sliding mechanisms and hidden compartment of the desk are concealed by a chestnut dust cover. The soul of Glissade resides in its discrete beauty.