Wooden Furniture

Many years ago, my parents bought a French farmhouse table from a celebrated antique dealer, it was dated around 1720 and about as original as grandpa's axe, but it was beautiful. This experience galvanised my imagination and the penny dropped; certified antiquity had little to do with the price. Customers were buying fakes because of how they looked, with or without certification - they were hooked on the patina of age.

It inspired me to create the provenance of Nicholas Dattner. I wanted my tables to become the benchmark of excellence and desirability in their own right. What real provenance, other than age, do most old tables have anyway? Usually they are crudely made by an unknown individual hundreds of years ago. I wanted people to proudly say, "It's a Nicholas Dattner," when asked about the provenance of their table.

The provenance of the ideas behind the tables is another matter entirely.

In our showroom you will see tables that are part oriental, others that could be found in an art deco catalogue, a Bauhaus exhibition or a French villa. We show tables that are cutting edge and tables that are perfect for wine guzzling and bone throwing. We have explored tables like astronomers searching the universe for new stars.