We’re always delighted to post news about former students’ work, particularly when they have a lesson to pass on.
So, we’re pleased to feature Shane Elliot’s Prohibition Table which has been recrafted specifically for the Middle Eastern market.
His quirky poker table is “furniture in motion” and based on an original design used during the American prohibition era.
The basic design, which has been sold worldwide, is made from Maccassar Ebony, burr Elm veneer and brushed antique brass.
It also conceals a hidden interior compartment, a design developed in 1920’s America when alcohol was banned.
The original prohibition tables had a discreet mechanism that, with one touch, raised the top of the table and allowed access to the illicit alcohol bottles inside.
The Elliot Collection
Shane, who graduated from our professional course in 2015, owns and manages The Elliot Collection, based in Ibiza but with an international clientele.
Recognising that his quirky table had the potential to sell worldwide, he first exhibited in London and at the Design Show Shanghai in China.
But one market was eluding him, and that was the lucrative oil-rich countries of the Middle East.
However, Shane has taken advice from the influential Todd Merrill. His gallery, Todd Merrill Studio, sells to wealthy clients internationally.
Todd’s advice was that, in a region of the world with few trees, the market doesn’t like furniture made from wood.
Shane has now redesigned his table in a faux crocodile leather covering decorated with brass or bronze.
However, it still incorporates cooling technology from UK company Kaelo. This creates a ‘jacket’ of cold air to keep bottles perfectly chilled.
It’s a piece that reflects Shane’s passion for design that has glamour, humour and surprise.
Shane is also a graduate of the KLC school of Interior design in London. He therefore has a broad perspective of good design in contemporary interior spaces.
His Prohibition Table is a seamless blend of the aesthetic and the functional.
The perfect adornment for any sheikh’s palace, and a lesson in taking advice wherever you find it!