Do you have a story to tell about Table=Chest?
Please contact s_turner@craftscouncil.org.uk

We aim to collect as many stories as possible about the many contexts – public and private collections, exhibitions – that Table=Chest appears in. Scroll down for the accounts we have gathered so far.

Table=Chest on display in West Room Gallery. Photo: courtesy of Victoria&Albert Museum

Table=Chest on display in West Room Gallery. Photo: courtesy of Victoria&Albert Museum

Table=Chest in the Victoria & Albert Museum Furniture Collection

Tomoko Azumi’s ‘Table=Chest’ was proposed for acquisition at the V&A in recognition of its originality of conception and quality of realisation. It is considered one of the most successful flexible solutions of furniture design and as such a defining piece of the period. The design maximises space saving within a small home by incorporating the potential for various uses.

Tomoko Azumi intended to combine two functions or states of being into a single object. Folded open it is a table and folded closed a small chest of drawers. The design could be informed by Japanese traditions such as the low table for eating or the stacking units of the Japanese lunch box. More important, the object is a response to the demand for flexible and multi-purpose furniture at the end of the 20th century. What makes the piece so convincing is the independency of both functions from each other and their elegant proportions. Neither is compromised in terms of functionality nor aesthetics by its dual nature. Furthermore, the handles in the drawers, which can be opened from either side, allow it to be easily moved when it is folded as a chest. Particularly striking is the way in which the drawers remain level while the object is transformed. However, the complicated angles make a mass production of the object unviable.

The ‘Table=Chest’ has been exhibited within various contexts at the V&A. It was shown in a special display at the main entrance immediately after acquisition. It went on loan to another gallery in the UK and was subsequently included into the 20th Century Study Gallery. At present, it is part of the new display dedicated to the post-war design history.

Collection reference: W.6:1 to 3-1997

Dr Jana Scholze
Curator of Modern Furniture and Product Design
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
V&A Collection

Table=Chest in A loft-style apartment in 1998, Geffrye Museum. Photo: Chris Ridley

Table=Chest in the Geffrye Museum Collection

Brief description: ‘Table=Chest’ combined coffee table and chest of drawers, solid beech and beech-faced plywood, designed by Tomoko Azumi in 1995, manufactured by Frank E Bailey Joinery and Specialist Mouldings, Lincolnshire, United Kingdom, this example manufactured 1997. Acquired from the designer.

The Azumi ‘Table=Chest’ was acquired by the Geffrye in 1997 for display in its forthcoming 1990s Room, opening the following year. The display shows the new style of loft-living which had become fashionable amongst professional, middle-class Londoners, particularly those working in the media, arts and design. The ‘Table=Chest’ typifies the kind of minimalist design which suits the industrial aesthetic of these homes. It was shown at 100% Design and the Crafts Council around this time, and featured in contemporary design magazines popular among the demographic upon whom the display is based. The Museum was able to gather contemporary testimony from both the designer and some of the original consumers in order to enhance the social context of the piece. Many of the consumers worked in the creative industries and were attracted to the versatile space-saving design and high quality production.

Collection reference: 53/1997

Alexandra Goddard
Assistant Keeper, Interpretation and Exhibitions
Geffrye Museum, London
Geffrye Museum Collection

Tomoko Azumi on collections, private and public

“Here [in the UK] I sold to a few personal clients, collectors who bought it for very appropriate, shipshape, contained flat. Here it’s opened and closed every day. You manage to live in a limited place. It really suits this kind of environment, retaining its kind of neat style.”

“I sold one to a personal collector who lived close to the Crafts Council, I can see it still – he put it in a basement room where you can have a view from the street. So I sometimes walked there because I wanted to see it. To see how it’s used. It was very nice seeing them in use. Also in museums it’s very nice to have them but they aren’t used. They are looked after well, but I want to give it some contact by human beings sometimes.”

Private Collectors
Chelsea, London
Myddelton Square, London
Kobe, Japan
Yokohama, Japan
Tokyo, Japan
Australia (city unknown)
Bern, Switzerland

Tomoko Azumi on Table=Chest in Japan

“Some of the early ones went to Japan. They have a bit of a problem with the difference of humidity. The drawers expand; the solid wood expands during the summer in Japan, when there is very high humidity, so you can’t open them. So the drawers are used only in the winter. You have to think about what to put in them, otherwise you can’t take it out during the summer. So it has to be seasonal winter items that are stored in the drawers. Now the Table=Chest that is produced in Japan has a wider tolerance for adapting to the climate, which is quite interesting. I think in a small house in Japan the piece does a very good job.”

Table=Chest on display at New Designers One Year On, 1996. Photo: Tomoko Azumi

One Year On is a satellite event run as part of New Designers. It showcases the work of a selected group of innovative, enthusiastic and creative makers who are within one year of graduating or within one year of being in business.
www.newdesigners.com

Table=Chest was also shown at the Crafts Council Gallery as part of the Flexible Furniture exhibition, 1997. Photo: taken from the Flexible Furniture catalogue

A Crafts Council exhibition about flexibility and modularity in furniture making with the aim of fostering connections between craftspeople and manufacturers.

Table=Chest at the Crafts Council Gallery as part of the Flexible Furniture exhibition, 1997. Photo: taken from the Flexible Furniture catalogue

Table=Chest on display at AZUMI solo exhibition, The Lighthouse, Glasgow, 1999. Photo: Tomoko Azumi

Table=Chest on display in window at American Retro Soho, London, 1997. Photo: Tomoko Azumi

Table=Chest on display in window at American Retro Soho, London, 1997. Photo: Tomoko Azumi

Table=Chest at Salone Satellite, Milano, 1999. Photo: Tomoko Azumi

Table=Chest on display in Super Contemporary, Design Museum, London, June – October 2009. Photo: Tomoko Azumi

Super Contemporary explored the creative magnetism of London, looking at key moments in recent design history and showcasing the influential designers in today’s design scene. The foreground of the exhibition consisted of 15 commissions by leading designers who shape London’s creative landscape. The background of the exhibition charted the ingredients that have made London function as a creative hub, through a media-rich timeline of significant projects, influential figures and critical events, of which the Table=Chest display formed part. A unique collection of personal maps, tracing the city’s creative networks and designers’ relationships with London completed the exhibition.
www.designmuseum.org

Table=Chest on display for Select at Collect, Collect, Saatchi Gallery, London, May 2009. Photo: Sylvain Deleu

Select at Collect was a snapshot of the Crafts Council Collection of contemporary British craft developed for Collect at the Saatchi Gallery in 2009. Key pieces selected by four outstanding individuals from the craft, visual arts, design and fashion arenas were showcased across the three floors of the gallery. The selectors’ choices provided compelling personal perspectives on craft and its relevance to their sectors. The displays profiled a broad range of disciplines and the innovative and high quality craftsmanship contained within the Crafts Council Collection.

Table=Chest was selected by Alasdhair Willis, CEO of Established & Sons, who commented: “The amazing nature and movement of this table/chest is ingenious. In either composition it is both a stunning piece of engineering, and elegant item of furniture.”

Select at Collect

Do you have a story to tell about Table=Chest?
Please contact s_turner@craftscouncil.org.uk