An Arts & Crafts Yorkshire School English Oak Dining Table by Horace 'Knightman' Knight c. 1980. A very attractive table in the classic Yorkshire School style. Octagonal tables are far more sociable that typical rectangular ones, allowing everyone to see and talk to each other, and more flexible in terms of seating numbers and positions. Featuring:

• Very well figured quarter-sawn English Oak (quarter-sawing is a way of sawing oak to produce boards with superior strength which also reveals decorative 'medullary rays' in its grain).

• Octagonal top made out of just five continuous pieces of very well figured quarter-sawn solid timber with subtly curved edges.

• Cruciform base with sledge feet.

Approximate dimensions are:

• Overall Diameter 1370mm (4 feet 5 3/4 inches).

• Overall Height 750mm (2 feet 5 1/2 inches).

c. 1980.

Finely hand-carved knight motif. On the base.

Very good condition with excellent rich colour and grain and tight joints. 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 small firm of high class Yorkshire School cabinet makers, founded by Horace Knight in 1984, after training with Sid Pollard [One of Robert ‘Mouseman’ Thompson first apprentices] in the 1970s. Well known for producing top quality handmade furniture much of which is in the Yorkshire School style, featuring solid English Oak with wrought iron fittings and traditional construction techniques. Every piece is made by one individual craftsman, from choosing the wood right through to final finishing. It currently run by the Knight family and trades under the name Old Mill Furniture.

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 Yorkshire School of the Arts & Crafts movement started with Robert 'Mouseman' Thompson's  transformation from jobbing carpenter to master craftsmen. By the mid-1920s he had adopted his trademark mouse (now world renowned as a symbol of quality furniture) and had his own workshop busily employing several men. As the workshop grew and over the years many of the craftsmen have taken their skills and branched out and adopted a trademark of their own, a fox, a lizard, a fish, a rabbit to name but a few, and whilst some have closely stuck to the Mouseman designs others have taken the style and adapted it. Other craftsmen, unconnected to the Mouseman workshop, have also chosen the classic Yorkshire Oak style as their own. Typical Yorkshire school items are in English Oak, with traditional pegged joints and adzed surfaces.