An Arts & Crafts Cotswold School English Ash Desk by Alan Peters 1986. Simplicity of design, beautiful materials and exquisite workmanship at their best. A perfect item to creat a work area with neat storage in a limited space. Alan Peters was one of the premier Arts and Crafts makers of the late 20th century and his furniture rarely comes up for sale. Featuring:

• Solid English White Ripple Ash throughout.

• Rectangular legs joined to floor level stretcher with blind tenons secured with pegs.

• Shaped cross stretcher joined with fox wedged through tenon.

• Leather writing surface on the top which opens to reveal a leather lined storage area.

Approximate dimensions are:

• Overall Width 910mm (2 feet 11 3/4 inches).

• Overall Depth 530mm (1 foot 8 3/4 inches).

• Overall Height 790mm (2 feet 7 inches).

• Internal Depth 90mm ( 3 1/2 inches).

1986.

Stamped Alan Peters and with the original purchase receipt. This design also features in “ Cabinetmaking, the Professional Approach, Alan Peters, Stobart & Sons Ltd, London, 1984” pages 178 to 182.

Excellent condition with excellent colour and grain, snugly closing top, tight joints and original finish. A few minor marks on the top. 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.

A British Arts and Crafts furniture designer maker who was apprenticed to Edward Barnsley (from 1949 to 1955) before setting up his own workshop in the Sixties. He is known for his particularly elegant furniture, outstanding craftsmanship and creative designs.

Ash is a straight grained and very tough timber, characterised by a wide colour range from the whites of the outer layers to the dark olive brown of the heart wood. This colour variation can be used to create a striking visual effect.

The Cotswold School was a development of the Arts and Craft Movement started largely by Ernest Gimson and the brothers Sidney and Ernest Barnsley. The furniture is instantly recognisable with its simple lines, attention to the finest of details, and use of beautiful materials. Cotswold School designs were crafted from local materials using traditional tools and techniques and with decorative details derived largely from utilitarian elements: exposed joinery, unusual panels, interesting pulls and latches crafted either from wood or from metal using traditional smithing techniques, and close attention to form as well as to wood grain and pattern. Where decorative details were added they generally took the form of traditional embellishment such as exposed joints, chamfered edges and chip carved edge details. The style was embraced and developed by other designers and craftsmen including Gordon Russell, Stanley Webb Davies in Cumbria, Sid Barnsley's son Edward, Arthur Romney Green in Hampshire, Robin Nance in St Ives and Ambrose Heal are a handful of such men out of many. The best developed their own style within the established tradition.