Mid Century Desk by James Leonard

A mid-century School Master’s desk designed by James Leonard, the rectangular wooden veneered top over an iconic high pressure green dye cast aluminium base of tapered bent metal legs secured to a plain deep frieze centred by a useful large wooden veneered drawer. English, circa 1950

In 1946 James Leonard joined ESA (Educational Supply Association) – a business set up to supply schools with a range of furniture and equipment. He had a great interest in the Scandinavian modernist design movement and shortly after he joined the firm he began working on a new modernist collection. Taking advantage of the support for the use of new materials and using some of the learnings from war productions, he promoted the use of cast aluminium and moulded plywood as key materials.