The Rib Seascape
NOVOCASTRIAN were commissioned by Taylor Howes in 2022 to create a very special coffee table.
The industrial heritage of North-East England is a key inspiration in our work. To work therefore with a client interested in ships and seafaring presented a particularly special opportunity for us. For this creation we referenced the structures of the great ships built on the rivers Tyne and Wear in the 20th century.
Cloaked in streamlined sheets of steel, a skeleton of ribs, gussets and intersections create the strength and rigidity needed to support such enormous vessels at sea. It was this ribbed structure that became the concept from which the coffee table design grew.
Hand-finished in layers of etched, sculpted and patinated solid brass, no expense was spared in creating the rich patina and textural details needed to compliment the design.
2022
Sculpted, etched and brushed brass
London, England
Progress with the double bottoms of ‘Naess Crusader’ at the North Sands shipyard, Sunderland, 19 May 1972
Sculpting in the texture to the tables top surface, inspired by the ever changing surface of the sea.
Dark brass patination
Working on the brass trim. Bespoke tooling was made to aid the repetitive forming of such thick bar stock.
One of the many patination stages to achieve the final finish.
