William Tillman
William Tillman was making fine reproduction furniture from the1970's until his retirement at the end of the 1990's and his work is considered to be of the highest quality and collected throughout the world. It has been sold in all of the famous London Stores including Harrods,Peter Jones and Maples and will almost certainly be considered important antique furniture of the future.
Every piece of furniture was produced with the utmost skill and knowledge to ensure that the finished article would bear the most critical comparison with the original. Whilst the polish used was resistent to heat and water, the finished surface has a wax patination similar to that found on early furniture.
Tillman pieces won the British Furniture Manufacturers, Showpiece of the Year award in three consecutive years.
Flame Mahogany
Thomas Sheraton - 18th century furniture designer, once characterized mahogany as "best suited to furniture where strength is demanded as well as a wood that works up easily, has a beautiful figure and polishes so well that it is an ornament to any room in which it may be placed." Matching his words to his work, Sheraton designed much mahogany furniture. The qualities that impressed Sheraton are particularly evident in a distinctive pattern of wood called "flame mahogany."
The flame figure in the wood is revealed by slicing through the face of the branch at the point where it joins another element of the tree.
Jupe Dining Table
In 1835 Robert Jupe was granted British Patent No. 6788 for an expanding table. The original Jupe expanding table includes a table top that is divided into a number of sections. Each section is connected to an underlying frame structure, such that when the table top is rotated, the sections move radially outward, increasing the effective size of the table top. Once the table top has been rotated to move the table top sections outward, leaves are inserted between the sections, so as to fill in the spaces created by the outward movement of the sections. Because the table top sections diverge and move radially outward from a central point, the Jupe table top retains its shape in its expanded configuration.
The Jupe table has now become one of the most valuable and sought after antiques. Original Jupe tables in good condition may sell for up to $350,000 at the time of writing. However, despite its popularity, the Jupe table has been very difficult to mass produce, because its workings are both extremely complex and entirely handcrafted.
For example, the frame structure that supports the table top sections in the Jupe table is comprised of many individual beam structures that are secured together to form the frame. Each of those beams must be individually made and assembled to exacting tolerances in order to ensure that the table top sections will move freely and mate in the center of the table top to form a substantially contiguous table surface in both the contracted and expanded configurations. The manufacture of such a structure is time-consuming and is not conducive to rapid production.
Other aspects of the Jupe table design also make the design difficult to implement. For example, in at least some of the existing examples of functioning Jupe tables, the pivot for the table top is a threaded rod that runs the entire length of the table pedestal. That is an extremely difficult and time-consuming configuration to replicate.
