Fine wood designer David Linley, the son of the late Princess Margaret and photographer Lord Snowdon, may be cut from the most traditional cloth, but his latest collection bucks the current trend for functional art. Launched at this summer’s Grosvenor House Art and Antiques Fair, his new ‘art furniture’ range caused something of a stir. Instead of the function of the items determining their shape, these pieces were designed with form as the priority. They are striking, daring even. But then again, how often is furniture inspired by the optical illusion and geometric abstraction of Op Art artists Bridget Riley and Victor Vaserely?
Perhaps the highlight of the collection is the Vortex Credenza (£49,000). It is shaped like a traditional sideboard. The overall look is, however, distorted by Op Art marquetry in rosewood and sycamore: the stripes making the straight lines of the piece bend and dance in your eyes. Hidden drawers reveal further secret compartments, lined with velvet and gold leaf.
The Lanceolate Tall Boy (£69,000) is a witty variation of the Chinese collector’s cabinet. The top half is more conventional, with Macassar ebony and sycamore inlay on the doors. The bottom, however, toys with the idea of ‘negative space’: what appear to be legs are in fact a veneer on the surface of a light box. The Time Table (£19,500) is the love child of a side table and a wrist watch, with the clock sunken into the surface of the rosewood table.
