Herman Miller Heritage, Marble-top Cabinet, 1960

Robert Heritage marble-top cabinet for Archie Shine c. 1960

The marble-top cabinet by Robert Heritage marks the epitome of his ability to create high-end furniture that is restrained and modern. The materials and detailing in this design are unequivocally luxurious. Connemara marble is renowned for being the world’s finest truly green marble and one of the rarest. The stone top is combined with solid and veneered rosewood that has been carefully selected and used throughout the cabinet. The carcass is constructed with exposed finger joints. The inset steel drawer pulls reference historical furniture detailing and marry classical elements to the modernist design. Each of these are painstakingly inset with four counter-sunk screws.

The partnership between Heritage and Archie Shine began in the late 1950’s and continued through the 1960s. The designs by Robert Heritage embraced traditional elements though were thoroughly modern in proportion and detailing. Heritage favoured bold dimensions with long sleek outlines for his cabinets. This was in contrast to most other UK-based designers and manufacturers of the period.

This cabinet reflects the very best of British cabinet making and the marriage of bold materials within a carefully considered design.

Robert Heritage is largely overlooked as a designer. He was awarded more COID (Council Of Industrial Design) design awards by the Design Council than any other British designer in the 20th Century. His worked extended from industrial products, to lighting and to furniture for the QE2. Heritage was acknowledged as Royal Designer for Industry, awarded a CBE and was professor of furniture at the Royal College of Art.

Dimensions
213w x 46d x 73cmh