a piece of furniture
'should have a very
good reason for being'
Ron Arad (referring to 'a chair)1990
'Jeremy Broun is amongst a handful of pioneers of the 1970s British Furniture Craft Revival, redefining the boundaries of furniture design and in the top rank of innovative designer makers for over three decades', that has paved the way for the work of today. Whilst using tradition as a springboard each piece of his says something new about form, function, structure, technique.
Everything is uniquely designed
and made by Jeremy Broun
Early pine Rocking chair that sold
for £40 in 1974 - being auctioned for £5,000 in 2023.
The Chair King Charles sat in (Royal Family viewing at Kensington Palace in 1985)
Award winning digital touchscreen jukebox
Professional Woodworker of the Year
Innovation in furniture design rarely includes new joints such as Broun's Routkerf joint
Blending new with old - one of five oak benches designed and made for The Roman Baths, Bath
A corner drinks cabinet made from a single board of ash cut into thick veneers, the construction is radical using a router to cut the doors from a flat front panel. The piece sold at the Sotheby's First Sale of Contemporary British Crafts in 1980.
Each Jeremy Broun design has something new to say - perhaps about form, function, structure, technique or material.
The Plank Clock is a floor standing piece of functional sculpture. The design exploits a unique routkerfed joint devised by Jeremy.
An early influence is a statement Jeremy read in a book on Finnish design in the 1960s: 'Every piece is in a sense a piece of sculpture'.
The Plank Clock in ash. 65'' high. Exhibited at the Charles Nesbitt Gallery in Miami, USA.
Man & Nature Table made from a tree given to Jeremy Broun (one of five makers) by Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew from The Great Storm of 1987. He chose an ash tree, a timber he has favoured for furniture making for two decades previously. An exhibition of pieces made was held at Kew Gardens in 1991. Three of these tables were made from the tree as well as Jeremy's famous High backed rocking chair and a wooden lamp.
Floor standing luminaires using low energy bulbs and more recently LED bulbs. Jeremy's lamps were first designed in 1979 and exhibited at The Philips Lighting Competition exhibition at The Barbican Centre. Shown here are his Stick and Cobra lamps.
About Jeremy Broun
Jeremy Broun established a small workshop in Bath in 1973 and without any capital and limited hand tools, developed his own unique style of furniture, shaped by these limited resources and his early travels to Scandinavia where simplicity rules.
An old-fashioned 'Rennaissance Man' with forward-looking ideas, Jeremy fires creatively on several cylinders - illustrating the books he writes. playing the innovative guitars he builds, vehicle restoration and film-making.
Commissioning
Commissioning a piece of Jeremy Broun's furniture often starts with a phone call or email. Initial designing is free with a £150 fee applied beyond initial concept sketches. This is deducted from the total cost. Once a design is agreed a 30% deposit is requested with the balance payable on delivery. Some commissions are for one-offs and others for repeat designs that can be customised. Today Jeremy focuses on creating smaller 'objects of desire' that can become heirloom pieces - affordable usable items. There are some items for sale - some early prototypes and ex exhibition pieces.
The Cabotable was designed in 1986 to celebrate 500 years since John Cabot sailed to North Americat. It was exhibited at Bristol Museum and Art Gallery. The design depicts his name in fish like shapes, is made of Canadian maple and expresses Cabot's view that the world is round. It was later purchased by a Bristol patron of Jeremy's work.
Tree Custodian
A wildlife retreat with a river flowing into the Atlantic, Jeremy Broun is custodian of three oak trees. Here is the birdhide on stilts he built that withstands flooding.
The Alan Peters Furniture Award
This prestigious award celebrates the legacy of one of Britain's greatest furniture designer makers. Jeremy Broun is organizer and one of the judges. The award now runs every two years - the next one is planned for 2024 and will be an online event (as in 2021).
2022 Award (left to right) Tom Inman (Highly Commended), Robin Johnson (Commended), Matt Tyson (2nd prize), Jeff Maker (1st prize), Philip Gay (3rd prize), Freya Whamond (guest judge), Jeremy Broun (organizer/judge) and Andrew Lawton (judge).
Prize sponsors
Award winning Publications
A woodworking author since 1989 Jeremy Broun's books include the pioneer book on creative routing and the Top UK Authors award 'The Encyclopedia of Woodworking Techniques'. Currently he publishes his own range of hardback books with linked online video content, plus a range of video integrated ebooks available at
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