Oval Dining Table With Extension from G-Plan

Oval dining table in teak, Fresco model edited by G-Plan in the 60s, equipped with a central extension. This extension allows a quick and easy transformation of the table to accommodate more people for lunch or dinner. The space saving is indisputable, from 6 to 8/10 place settings in 1 minute.

Oval table top, butterfly extension (integrated directly into the table) and 4 tubular/conical legs. The colour of the teak of the extension is lighter and the teak is slightly different (see photos).

Product dimensions
Length: 162 cm
Length with extension: 208cm
Height: 73cm
Diameter: 102 cm

Model published by: G Plan
Model: Fresco
Period: 1960’s

Restoration: Fully checked and inspected, this table has been fully sanded and oiled to protect and nourish the wood.

Condition: Good condition 

Weight: Between 50 Kg and 60 Kg

About the table:

The British furniture manufacturing company G-Plan was launched and 1953, but its origins go back much further. In 1898, Ebenezer Gomme (1858-1931) founded a precision carpentry workshop, E. Gomme Ltd, in High Wycombe, England, one of the major centres of furniture manufacture in the UK. In the early 1900s, E. Gomme made the transition to a larger factory and in 1911 his sons took over the management. The company became known for its range of high quality enfilades, tables and other storage furniture. It also invented the concept of custom-made dining sets.

E. Gomma continued to prosper until the 1940s. During the Second World War, the UK experienced a shortage of timber. The government exercised strict control over the ‘superfluous’ sectors, which included furniture production.  Among the programme’s efforts, the flagship exhibition Britain Can Make It at the V&A Museum was a major step towards orienting the British public towards more modernist tastes. Ebenezer Gomme’s grandson, Donald (1916-2005), was one of the visitors to the exhibition and was greatly inspired by what he saw there. With the success of the programme’s next exhibition, The Festival of Britain – which featured the work of modern designers such as Robin and Lucienne Day at London’s South Bank in 1951 – Donald Gomme was convinced that a certain radical, more minimalist aesthetic would sweep through the furniture industry. Thus began G-Plan, a subsidiary of the traditional furniture company E. Gomme Ltd.

In the 1960s, Scandinavian style was sweeping the international design scene, with imports from Denmark outstripping UK-made furniture. So to compete, G-Plan hired Danish designer Ib Kofod-Larsen to create new collections in fine woods such as teak and rosewood. Although Kofod-Larsen’s pieces have become collectors’ items today, they are not highly regarded by the design community of the time – arguably seen as inferior variations of furniture available in Scandinavia. Despite the competition, G-Plan remained one of the most recognised names in UK furniture production until the late 1970s.

In 1987 the Gomme family sold the company to its then directors, who sold it three years later to the Christie Tyler Group. In 1996 the Morris Furniture Group acquired a licence to manufacture and market G-Plan Cabinet furniture in Glasgow.