Many years ago a client asked David Fletcher to make a copy of a Jupe expanding table. This was to be the start of a long trail to the completely automatic and self-contained table that DB Fletcher now produces.
The original idea for a table of this type was formed in the nineteenth century by a man named Robert Jupe, who patented his design in 1835. Jupe’s table was round, and had an ingenious geometry and a similarly ingenious method of making it expand radially; metamorphosing from a small size to a table of larger diameter. Ever since then, the principle has created a great deal of fascination and interest. It has been slavishly copied by many, but always with the failing to achieve a better way and barely improved upon.
The biggest drawback of antique and modern tables alike is that the nineteenth century geometry demands that the spare expansion leaves be stored externally from the table. This causes the expansion process to be laboriously slow and cumbersome, some tables involving eight journeys between the table and the spare leaf storage cabinet. Jupe tables were not always truly round in all sizes either. Nevertheless, the idea was wonderful and was a source of inspiration and re-invention for us.
Recognising the drawbacks to the Jupe design, and realizing the potential of such a piece, we set about designing a table that would expand automatically and store its expansion leaves within itself. This, after many tears of development, has now been achieved to stunning effect.
Our geometry is radically different to Robert Jupe’s and involves a central twelve-pointed star. The table’s top surface is housed on three separate layers and, below is a complex but exceptionally robust mechanism, which whirls the entire top and skirt through the operation cycle of about 30 degrees. In just three seconds the table transforms from a small seating capacity to one that can accommodate twice as many diners. Operation is pure magic.
Our tables have evolved more as time has gone by. A skirt in the manner of a drum table was added some years ago, which made the table truly circular in both modes and enabled a larger expansion ratio. Mechanisms, and indeed entire tables, have been made to such a standard that they are capable of salt-water inundation.
More recent innovations have brought about very large savings in weight whilst also providing exceptional stability and rigidity. A power-operated mechanism is now offered, as are a number of different types of main construction material – marble for instance.
Tables are built to an exceptional standard and, as far as we know, there is no other table on the planet that has an equal performance or fascination.