We ask  makers, curators, designers and creative practitioners to select their favourite object from the Crafts Council Collection and to tell us why.

Vicky Richardson, Director of Architecture, Design, Fashion, British Council, says

Looking back, the Crafts Council’s decision to acquire this piece was remarkably brave and insightful. Tomoko Azumi, now a well-known and respected designer, was unknown at the time and exhibited Table=Chest as part of her 1995 degree show at the Royal College of Art. As part of the Crafts Council Collection, Table=Chest plays an important role in reminding us of a period of design when we were interested in objects serving several different purposes. Perhaps this was an outcome of the recession of the late 1980s/early 1990s, when furniture had to work harder. The piece is also playful and interactive and implies that furniture design is an intellectual as well as a practical pursuit.

About this object

Date of making: 1995
Date of acquisition: 1996
Technique/Process: Furniture making, woodworking
Materials: Beech, beech veneer, plywood
Dimensions: L400mm x W400m x H680mm (folded)
Collection Number: W102

View this object in Collections Online