Silverlining launches Enriched Sensibilities
The new collection combines 21st century craftsmanship with the latest technologies
Enriched Sensibilities is a new capsule collection from Silverlining Furniture.
The collection features three designs inspired by the sentiment found in the quote by John Makepeace, under whose tuition Silverlining’s founder – Mark Boddington – honed his furniture-making skills:
‘Objects enrich our sensibilities in three ways… physical, aesthetic and moral.’ - John Makepeace
This sentiment encouraged Silverlining’s design team to explore the idea of how designs enrich our lives – whether that’s through a tactile and an aesthetic experience, or with their ‘making of’ story.
‘We are always looking to find the subtleties in materials and forms. They create a moment of discovery and emotional pleasure for our clients when they touch the materials for the first time or see a piece of furniture from a new angle. Our clients are also curious about the stories behind the materials, the skills involved in the making process, and the craftspeople making their pieces. The client will often visit and meet them in person, which is very much an important part of the commissioning experience for them’ says Jim Birch, Silverlining’s head of design.
The collection features three new designs, alongside furniture concepts and short videos that illustrate this journey of exploration.
Organic Sculpture
This design brings together three contrasting materials: solid English ripple sycamore, polished solid brass, and upholstery leather, to create one undulating, flowing surface. It’s been inspired by the juxtaposition of natural landscapes and brutalist architecture, and the idea of transitioning from a flowing organic surface into an angular fractal one.
The design process considered the softness of the leather, the movement of solid timber as an organic matter, and the precision of machined metal, all brought together. The design team used the latest software to create complex 3D geometry and combined these advances with the experience and knowledge of the craftspeople of working with these materials for decades.
“Without the subtlety and skill of our craftspeople this design just wouldn’t be possible,” says Birch.
Contour Marquetry
The design was inspired by the contour lines and the visual 2D patterns often used as an indicator of elevation. These patterns can be found in nature from the macro to the micro perspective – in the stepped rice fields of Asia and the natural timber grain. The lines create both movement and an illusion of depth. By emphasising the contours, using intricate tapering metal inlay, the lines are lifted from the background walnut marquetry. The Damascus disk at the centre of the smallest contour has folds of molten steel that mimic and compliment the marquetry pattern but on a smaller scale.
Making Marks
The design combines oiled English elm, with polished solid bronze and vegetable-tanned leather. It’s been inspired by the ocean and the way it interacts and breaks along the shoreline. The movement of the wood as the ocean and the smooth leather as the land are split by a tapering line of polished metal.
“We have translated ocean’s movement into a texture that would cleverly break up a surface and reflect light in an intriguing way. The texture was inspired by the traditional chip carving marks created by hand for centuries, however, we generated it using algorithms and 3D digital software. Although the tools used are mechanical, when used skilfully, they have a subtlety that hasn’t been possible before now,” says Birch.
Enriched Sensibilities is the latest collection of designs in Silverlining’s growing portfolio of finishes that combine the finest craftsmanship skills with progressive new technologies, to create furniture pieces at the nexus of design, art and innovation.
About Silverlining Furniture
Established more than 35 years ago, Silverlining is one of the furniture making’s leading names. The company has gathered following among the global aesthetes, thanks to its progressive design ethos that combines time-honoured craftsmanship techniques with the latest technologies.
From the company base in Wrexham, North Wales, Silverlining’s 62-strong team of designers, makers, project managers, and other specialists seek out the finest materials – from rare woods and exquisite leathers to precious metals – and draw on the best of old and new techniques to conjure them into extraordinary pieces. They call it ‘making magic’.
Silverlining is the double winner of Queen’s Award for Enterprise, recognised both for its international trade success and product innovation. The company has also been named a gazelle business, showing increasing revenues by more than 20% annually for over four years.