The Hardy chair was originally commissioned to celebrate Another Country’s fifth anniversary, devised around the brief to create furniture inspired by the history and landscape of Dorset, where the company operates.

The chair is a tribute to Thomas Hardy’s poem, ‘Old Furniture’ – an ode to the beauty of furniture handed down through the generations. The challenge was to create a piece that would imbue the poem’s spirit, which would stand the test of time to become a much-loved heirloom in its own right.

Two chair typologies from the 19th century, Thomas Hardy’s birth century, inspired its design: firstly, the ‘Captain’s chair’, originally a low-backed wooden armchair and secondly, the ‘Smoker’s bow’, a low-back Windsor, often used in smoking rooms, public houses, barber shops and cottages.

Whilst echoes of these chairs can be felt in Hardy’s design, the result is a comfortable modern carver, possessing its own distinct form and character.

Awarded the Design Guild Mark in 2016.