A glass espresso desk from Oka sits in the lounge of a Seventeenth-century Cotswold home embellished by Emma Burns of Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler.
Mark Anthony Fox
The early twentieth century was a time of great adjustments within the historical past of inside design, with many items starting to tackle the shapes we’re conversant in at the moment. One often-repeated story credit an American man named F. Stuart Foote because the inventor of the espresso desk. Foote was president of the Imperial Furnishings Firm in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and, in line with the story, had the legs of a eating desk sawn down for his spouse, who wanted a centrepiece for a celebration. He known as it a ‘espresso desk’.
The Imperial Furnishings Firm went on to supply loads of variations through the years. However the story behind this low-slung staple of the trendy front room could be somewhat completely different and extra stunning. Let’s unpack it.
First issues first: the identify. Odd as it might appear, the origins of the espresso desk have extra to do with tea than espresso. This natural infusion, nonetheless beloved within the British Isles, arrived in Europe within the late sixteenth century, introduced again from Asia by Portuguese retailers. Its reputation grew within the following century because the Dutch East India Firm started importing it extra broadly.
In the lounge of photographer Harry Carr’s maisonette in Islington, embellished by Christabel MacGreevy, a brass and glass espresso desk is piled with books and topped with a sinuous candlestick.
Mark Roper
As tea consuming turned trendy among the many higher courses, furnishings makers responded with specifically designed tea tables that have been sometimes tall, with a spherical, foldable prime so the piece may very well be saved neatly towards the wall when not in use. Over time, rectangular variations on casters turned extra frequent, although their top remained comparatively lofty.
Europeans first encountered espresso by way of commerce and journey within the Ottoman Empire within the late 1500s, and by the beginning of the subsequent century it was arriving in continental ports, significantly Venice, through routes by way of North Africa and the Center East. Initially offered in apothecaries for its supposed medicinal properties, it quickly turned a modern social drink.
The primary espresso home in England opened in Oxford in 1650, adopted by one other in London two years later. Writers, retailers, students and politicians all gathered there, turning these areas into vibrant hubs of mental life, usually nicknamed ‘penny universities’.
A chow-leg espresso desk in the lounge of a north London townhouse by Brandon Schubert.
Paul Massey
The consumption of espresso regularly unfold into the house as availability elevated and habits advanced. Nevertheless, this shift didn’t result in any speedy adjustments within the design of the tables, which remained persistently tall.
In 1868, E. W. Godwin created what was described as a espresso desk, although it stood at almost 67 centimetres excessive. Whereas which may not match what we image at the moment, there’s little doubt the concept took root within the Victorian period.
So how, precisely, did espresso tables shrink down? There’s no clear reply — although a couple of robust contenders have been put ahead.
One idea factors to the tables utilized in Ottoman tea gardens, however a extra believable origin lies in Britain’s late Nineteenth-century fascination with the Far East. Within the 1870s and Eighties, because the Anglo-Japanese model reached its peak, furnishings and motifs from Japan started showing in interiors throughout the nation. Amongst them have been conventional low tables utilized in Japanese properties — referred to as chabudai — sometimes starting from 15 to 30 centimetres in top.
A espresso desk designed by Rita Konig for The Lacquer Firm, seen right here within the designer’s personal London house.
Michael Sinclair
As Victorian creativity was famously unbound by strict historic accuracy, it’s not stunning to seek out early espresso tables showing within the revival kinds in style on the time — from numerous Louis-inspired designs for the French-inclined to Georgian fashions for many who most well-liked a contact of Albion rigour.
Nonetheless, espresso tables didn’t really catch on till the best way folks lived and entertained at house started to vary. Within the Edwardian period, they remained on the margins of home life, because the interval’s corseted fashions, structured social rituals, and emphasis on formality left little room — both bodily or culturally — for such a casual piece of furnishings.
That shift got here with the Roaring Twenties, a extra liberated second marked by the rise of daring aesthetic actions like Artwork Deco. Inside designers embraced the chance to experiment with new kinds and supplies, favouring streamlined shapes and glossy proportions and increasing the palette to incorporate metallic, glass and, later, plastic.
The espresso desk within the residing area of India Holmes’s vibrant house is by Italian designer Tommaso Barbi and dates to the Sixties.
Dean Hearne
Essentially the most decisive step within the evolution of the espresso desk got here, nevertheless, within the post-war interval. As televisions entered the house, residing rooms modified too, with upright furnishings usually reoriented to face the display. The espresso desk adopted go well with: heights dropped additional to keep away from obstructing the view, whereas surfaces grew to accommodate all the pieces from magazines and books to drinks and distant controls.
The comparatively current origins of the espresso desk could assist clarify the marginally off-kilter feeling that usually comes with items — whether or not vintage, classic or copy — made in earlier historic kinds similar to Georgian. Maybe that’s additionally why ottomans have turn out to be such a favorite in interiors-savvy residing rooms.
A a lot older type, ottomans are available beneficiant proportions and could be upholstered in something from daring reduce velvet to easy linen. Better of all, they will serve the identical goal when topped with a big tray, providing a softer, extra relaxed various to the hard-surfaced desk.
An ottoman upholstered in vintage cloth doubles as a espresso desk on this Wiltshire nation home, embellished by Robert Kime 20 years in the past.
Christopher Horwood
