An Arts & Crafts Yorkshire School Oak Bureau by Peter ‘Rabbitman’ Heap . A very attractive and equally useful piece of furniture by one of the most sought after Yorkshire School makers. Copious space to store correspondence and a good work area that closes up to keep everything tidy.. Featuring:

• Solid English Oak throughout.

• 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.)

• Subtly adzed on visible surfaces (the subtle surface rippling synonymous with Yorkshire School furniture)

• Two short over 2 long drawers (made with single plank fronts solid drawer carcasses joined with lap and through dovetails)

• Hand turned wooden handles

• Fall front revealing pigeon holes

• Sides with single plank added fielded panels surrounded by rails and stiles joined by through tenons secured with hand made pegs

• Panelled back with single plank fielded panels surrounded by rails and stiles joined by through tenons secured with hand made pegs

Approximate dimensions are:

• Overall Height 1040mm (3 feet 4 3/4 inches)

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

• Overall Depth 460mm (1 foot 6 inches)

• Flap Height When Down 770mm (2 feet 6 1/4 inches) [A standard height for a desk or bureau]

C. 1960

Peter ‘Rabbitman’ Heap’s hand-carved Rabbit motif.

Good condition, smoothly sliding drawers, excellent rich colour and grain and clean finish. 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.

The most British of woods, that can produce really special results. Oak has been used for hundreds of years to construct everything from sea-going vessels to fine furniture. 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