DESIGNED BY ROBERT LORIMER, CIRCA 1900

Cf: Jeremy Cooper, op. cit., p. 228, pl. 612

The circular tables are a version of one of Robert Lorimer's earliest designs. They are Gothic in inspiration and Lorimer's sketchbooks, loaned to the RIAS, contain similar German 15th and 16th century tables that he sketched whilst on the Continent. In the summer of 1900 he had visited Munich, Rothenburg and Nuremburg with William Burrell and wrote to his great friend, the Australian architect R.S. Dods: "I'm, if possible, more of a Gothic man after this trip than ever, for Gothic rooms and Gothic things have that look of the useful thing delightfully fashioned." Lorimer favoured simple graceful lines that emphasised the beauty of the timber. The 'Lorimer-Gothic' turned leg is probably the most characteristic feature of early Lorimer furniture.