Three pieces of modernist furniture made in the 1930s by Gane’s of Bristol recently came to the notice of the Gane Trust's chairman, Ken Stradling.  He spotted that the pieces were coming up to auction in Nottingham with a week to go, arranged to bid for them and brought the pieces home to Bristol for a staggering £21,000.

What makes these three pieces so special?  The simple-looking desk was actually designed by  the world-famous Modernist architect, Marcel Breuer, and figured in all the major publicity shots for Gane’s in the 1930s. A small nondescript looking black bookcase  was the missing end to Crofton Gane’s very own desk, already owned by Ken Stradling – the desk from which much of Crofton Gane’s avant garde furniture business was organised at his house in Downs Park West in Clifton. 

Now the pieces are back in Bristol, the desk has been reunited, and they will go on show at the Stradling Collection in Park Row with a wealth of cutting edge design, decorative art and craft pieces.  To visit, telephone  0117 9265 548.

Here Ken Stradling (right) discusses the desk with Kevin White, Chairman of the Design and Industries Association.