Description
Provenance and Background Info
(Written and SOLD in 2014)
This table is second-hand and was about 9 years old when we sold it back in 2014. Keep clicking on our NEWLY LISTED Category from our Home Page so you don’t miss any of our new finds!
A stunning dining table by highly-awarded company, Pacific Green. (Chairs sold separately.) The design is called Messina. This table is simple yet still different. It would work with many dining chairs giving a suite a true designer edge. The quality of the piece is exceptional and has a retail price tag of $2350 (written in 2014). This is SOLID coconut wood and should last forever.
The Pacific Green brand is not as obscure as I first imagined. The business originated from the Post & Rail brand which started in Sydney in the 1970’s. Post & Rail grew into an international brand and in the late 1980’s they did the unthinkable. With a highly successful brand they changed tack completely. With the world’s new concern with deforestation and ecological threats, Post & Rail closed and re-branded as Pacific Green. Pacific Green searched the world for a sustainable and resilient timber for their future furniture production- the solution? Coconut wood. In the South Pacific, they found vast abandoned plantations of coconut palm trees, which were commercially planted in the early-1900s but had reached the end of productive fruiting. The best part? Coconut wood is more resilient than virtually any timber- it thrives in areas battered by tropical cyclones.
After I’d found out all that I not only wanted this suite, I wanted to start stocking new Pacific Green furniture in iNVISeDGE (which would be a first because we “recycle” furniture). But there’s more. Pacific Green set a benchmark for modern, sustainable business in the Pacific. In the late 1980’s land was leased, not bought, to respect indigenous ownership. Their factory was built in consultation with the surrounding villages and employed only local people. Business and skills training programmes were established. The majority of the company is owned by Fijians- the drive of the business is still Australian, the designing arm happens here in Australia.
Pacific Green today has grown from that little furniture-making firm that started in the Rocks, Sydney back in 1973 (as Post & Rail). I am inspired and heartened that this little Australian business changed tack the way they did back in the 80’s when ecological threats were barely thought of.
Okay, I must talk about the table on offer here. (Sorry for such a long-winded affair but the Pacific Green story needs to be told.) The thing is the design sells itself- it’s this story behind the table that needs to be told. You can see from the photos the table is the highest quality. The twine that connects the planks of coconut timber gives the piece an interesting slant but it’s not over the top- this handiwork sets it apart. The two trunk sections add to the effect yet still contribute to a “clean” designer look.
You can also see the durability of the construction from the photos- SOLID TIMBER and thick- it can be sanded back at any time to bring it back to new making this a life-time investment. If you like Mark Tuckey and Nicholas Datner tables this one is just as special. Pacific Green is not a flash in the pan- they’ve been around over 40 years.
Items like this are the reason I do this job. They ignite inspiration- PG furniture tick every box and prove that businesses can be successful, ecologically responsible and socially aware. This table will become an antique in the future and continue to tell stories well after you and I are gone (just like Post & Rail furniture has already done). There’s no better way to invest in your home and reduce your carbon footprint.
(Written in 2014- any values given are probably not current anymore and have most likely increased.)
