The design process
Drawing on the knowledge and skills of the finest craftsmen of the 18th and 19th centuries, the collection presented here, represents the work of three hundred years of fine quality craftsmanship.
All true craftsmen are compelled to create beauty in their work. They are ruled by an instinctive need for proportion. They seek harmony or unity in the variety of materials, forms and shades of their work. And by eliminating anything that does not contribute to their vision, they create the purity that is equal to perfection.
The furniture made by English craftsman is celebrated around the world as some of civilisations’ most beautiful work. But what of the people? English designers, cabinet makers, carvers, gilders, marquetry and inlay masters, polishers and finishers are largely unknown as individuals.
In founding this enterprise, renowned, bespoke English furniture designer-maker, David Salmon wanted to pay tribute to one unsung craftsman, at whose workbench David first learnt the skills of an English furniture maker.
“I owe George Bensley for taking me under his wing as an apprentice and opening my eyes onto a path that has given me so much pleasure in life… so naming the company is belated recognition for George.”
Although trained in England and rising to worldwide prominence for his museum-quality work, David Salmon has followed a tradition of English furniture designers in passing on his knowledge and experience to inspire a new generation of master craftsmen, but not in England, in Vietnam.
A piece of George Bensley work is always unique. Inspired by the beauty of earlier ages, every part of every piece is designed by David Salmon and crafted by hand in our workshop.
The George Bensley workshop, is a little part of Great Britain in Ho Chi Minh City. Here, talented Vietnamese craftsmen work with British expert woodworkers to produce the George Bensley collections. They are using traditional skills, learned in the established way from their English craftsmen colleagues.
George Bensley’s craftsmen are the latest in a largely unbroken line of artisans that stretches back three hundred years to the guilds of master craftsmen of the British Golden Age of furniture design.
George Bensley is not a large scale, high output house, but a handmade low production atelier celebrating the fine arts of English period furniture.
While the great work of the Golden Age inspires the workmanship, the designs are uniquely those of David Salmon. He personally oversees each collection, selecting and combining the materials, drafting the designs, and guiding production at every stage.
David Salmon’s designs are leading the trend for mixing heritage and traditional design and materials in contemporary settings. Buyers may select individual pieces to anchor an interior, or whole room sets to make a more emphatic statement.
Bespoke Design
In many of the finest houses, furniture is individually designed and made to suit an architectural and interior design plan that is unique to the home and the owner’s vision.
While our collections form the majority of our work, we do undertake instructions to create individual pieces. It can be a rewarding and very personal pleasure to commission and receive items of furniture made only for you.
Our bespoke design service begins with a brief from you, your architect or interior designer, after which we will produce drawings which may be amended until we reach a design that exactly meets your need.
We select timbers and veneers, producing colour samples for approval prior to production. Using a mix of the finest hand drawings and the latest CAD systems we begin production, using hand skills to create work that we believe to be the highest quality craftsmanship offered anywhere.
Our craftsmanship
We are craftsmen first and foremost, and connected through our passion for traditional skills to all generations of craftsmen designers and makers.
Our collections
Inspired by the golden age, George Bensley collections are leading the trend for mixing heritage and traditional design and materials in contemporary settings.
Our showrooms
With three luxurious showrooms opening in Ho Chi Minh, Seoul and Hong Kong you’ll now be able to touch and admire the stunning beauty of our current collections.
Interior design
Our bespoke design service will guide you in selecting individual key pieces to emphasise your interior, or whole room sets to make a more emphatic statement.
