Benjamin, Peter & Daphne

London Road, Tonbridge, Kent; Tunbridge ware maker, restorer (fl. c. 1970-2009)

Peter & Daphne produced a range of small items such as ear-rings, paper knives, picture frames and tables which are decorated with tessellated bandings; also conventional parquetry on cigar and card tables. The tables were marketed through Derek Roberts, a Tonbridge antique furniture and period clock dealer. 

In 1981 Peter produced a special box as a wedding gift in connection with the marriage of Prince Charles to Lady Diana Spencer. The convex sides were veneered in figured satinwood with tessellated Tunbridge bandings and the lid inlaid with an ivory depiction of the Prince of Wales’s feathers with tessellated edge bandings. In 2009 an inlaid tangram puzzle box was produced to commemorate the 100^thanniversary of the granting of the title “Royal” to the borough of Tunbridge Wells by King Edward VII. A limited edition of ten boxes was marketed through Amherst Antiques.

Sources: Austen, ‘Tables by Tunbridge Ware Makers’, Furniture History (1997); Austen, Tunbridge Ware (3^rd ed., 2001); The Story of Tunbridge Ware, Tunbridge Wells Museum, 2001).