Axis Table awarded Bespoke Guild Mark

The Axis Table, a beautiful sculptural table commissioned to raise money for a cancer research charity, has been awarded a prestigious Bespoke Guild Mark by The Furniture Makers’ Company, the City of London livery company and charity for the furnishing industry.

The Axis Table draws influence from the monumental architecture of the Bronze Age and incorporates spherical and curving forms found in the study of planetary bodies and their cycles. The legs flow seamlessly into the table surface giving the appearance that it’s been carved from a monumental block of black wood.

Axis was designed by Mark Thomas, a furniture designer and maker based in coastal Sussex, who operates a workshop called Makermark. He uses traditional craftsmanship to make contemporary furniture and other creations that explore metaphysics and natural cycles. Mark chose oak for the table as it represents the axis mundi – the axis of Earth between the celestial poles – in many cultures, with the flowing grain of the wood displaying the cyclical growth of the tree. Bronze discs are inlayed into the table-top, representing constellations. The whole table is ebonised to emphasise its striking form.

The Axis Table is expected to sell for £10,000 and upwards, with the money raised going towards the Cris Cancer Foundation, an independent non-profit organisation dedicated to facilitating and developing research to beat cancer.

The Axis Table was awarded a Bespoke Guild Mark in March 2024 and is the 495th piece to be bestowed the prize in its near 70-year history. Since its launch in 1958, the Bespoke Guild Mark has been the apex of distinctions for UK designer-makers. The award recognises excellence in design, materials, craftsmanship and function for exquisite pieces of furniture and fitted furniture made as single items or a limited run.

Commenting on the Axis Table, Mark said: “A client commissioned the table with the brief to make an exhibition quality piece that would push my practice forward and be sold to raise money. I thought a lot about illness and loss and our search for meaning in life. I was drawn to the way that throughout the ages man has looked to the stars to find meaning and our place in the cosmos, in particular stone and bronze age man who built megalithic architecture to track the cycles of the planets and stars.

“I’m very proud and honoured to have been awarded a Bespoke Guild Mark. I feel excited about taking my practice to the next level and pushing my creativity further.”

Daniel Hopwood, Bespoke Guild Mark chairman, said: “I am delighted that Mark Thomas has received the prestigious Bespoke Guild Mark for his Axis table. The work is beautifully executed and breaks new ground in furniture design.”