Polished Performers

One appealing aspect of the reaction against the clinical look of so much modern furniture has been the inspiration drawn by designers from the natural world. Few, however, have produced results as complex and original as Derek Frost, whose furniture memorably unites playful wit with sculptural power.

Mr Frost set up his interior design company in 1984 having worked for 8 years with David Hicks and Mary Fox Linton. His is an unusual firm deliberately kept very small. There is no shop and no fabric range - just an airy office hidden in a Pimlico Mews where he produces couture results for each job. Furniture design is an important element of his work and is always done in close collaboration with the client which helps explain it's often startlingly individual character. His original outlook may also be due in part to his far eastern colonial childhood. A weekend home near the sea has fostered  the inspiration of natural forms such as pebble or driftwood worn smooth by the waves.

 

He looks at such objects rather as a Japanese artist does as shapes which reveal a spiritual essence. However he quickly dismisses any hint of the other worldly. "I've recently got less stony and more furrry" he says referring to a move away from the pebbles which inspired some striking tables to the animal forms of his recent work. These first appeared in his racing chair a tall upholstered dining room chair with hoofed feet. It's basic form is  Queen Anne but the design of the legs was inspired by ancient Egyptian furniture. One characteristic touch is the gilt stripe down the back of each rear leg - both a nod to the gilded detailing of early18th century furniture and a a racy reference either to military trousers or a tart's stocking according to taste.

 

Some of Mr Frost's most exciting recent work has been for the London house of a couple who have been loyal patrons for several years. For a library setting they commissioned a remarkable lectern which bears out Mr Frost's description of himself as a furniture designer playing at being a sculptor. it's bird like form which alludes to the traditional eagle lectern stands on a base of marble. The rippling breast which contains drawers covered in quilted maple veneer, laminated to fit the curved body which is gessoed and then gilded with copper leaf.

 

Even more extraordinary is the bed head made for the same clients. The swaying forms of laminated and carved cherry incorporating a silver disk were inspired by wind swept grass infront of the moon. But the piece fascinates because of the ambiguity of the forms which also suggests spears and a shield or tusks and horns. Characteristically Mr Frost summing up images of talismanic power then banishes them with a laugh. "It's all rather Rider Haggard really."