Mullion plinths 2024

Mullion is a series of small plinths developed in response to a brief co-created with English Heritage, a national charity that cares for over 400 historic buildings and sites across England.

The plinths were developed as part of  the Material & Memory exhibition at Brinkburn Priory, Northumberland (July - November 2024). Brinkburn Priory is a restored gothic priory and semi-derelict manor house, set in a tranquil loop of the Coquet river in rural Northumberland. Participaing designers were asked to respond to the stories and historic fabric of the building and its picturesque surrounds. 

The pieces owe their form to the tapered profiles of the stone mullioned windows. The profile, when used in windows, allows increased light to enter while reducing the visual heft of the stone element. Reproduced in furniture, the form is vernacular yet feels simultaneously contemporary.

The pieces also refer to the exchange of knowledge and practice between stone masons and early carpenters, prior to the advent of furniture makers as a distinct profession. Carpenters would often borrow techniques from masons, even if the material properties of stone and timber were quite different. This included the mason’s mitre, a way of joining stone elements at right angles, visually reproduced in the Mullion plinths by the way the profiles meet..

Two versions were shown as part of the exhibition. A low, three-legged version in pine. The subtle pink finish, using eco-friendly oils, references the faded pinks found in paint and wallpaper remnants seen on site. A taller version in oak references the panelling found in the former drawing room.  The different material values of the two pieces draw on the changing fortunes of the site, from a more rustic religious site to an elegant country home.

Photography: Jennine Wilson and Phil Luscombe