About Us

Our studio was started by Roger Nathan who has a passion for mathematical pattern coupled with a belief in the everyday use of beautiful things. The melding of simple, timeless design with captivating geometric ideas allows our products to enhance any space, whether home or office.

While combining traditional and modern techniques, we ensure that every piece from our studio is crafted and carefully finished to the highest standard. All our products are handmade in our Oxfordshire workshop. The hardwoods and veneers are individually selected and all the woods are sustainably harvested. The veneers are cut by knife using computer-based technology but further processes, such as the marquetry formation and finishing, are by hand. The metal components are machined using our manual engine lathe and hand polished.

Roger Nathan

Roger Nathan was born in Auckland, New Zealand and he has resided in England for more than twenty years. He has worked as a research scientist at University of Oxford with projects in archaeological science, geography, psychiatry and radiotherapy.

A decade ago, he began making kinetic sculptures and three dimensional puzzles to illustrate mathematical and scientific ideas. The use of marquetry in design has been a natural progression.

From minerals to Packed!

Oolites

Ooids on the surface of a limestone, Carmel Formation (middle Jurassic), southern Utah. Ooids are formed from layers of calcium carbonate deposited around a central grain fragment.

(Photograph courtesy of Prof. M. Wilson, College of Wooster)

Packed! design

Random packings of ellipses/ellipsoids were used to provide sedimentary geometries for the modelling of the radiation dose rate in Paleolithic environments ... a high-precision tool for trapped-charge dating (finding how long ago minerals were formed, heated or buried and thereby occupation of the site).

Packed! large tray

The random packing of ellipses eventually becomes jammed. The pattern is lifted from the model and it suggests mineral or cellular structures. The design also is available in round and small tray sizes.

From flowers to Fibonacci

Sunflower

Some plants have evolved to find a pattern which maximises the efficiency of packing seeds. This is related to the golden ratio (a standard of beautiful proportion) and the Fibonacci sequence 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, ... (new terms are the sum of the two preceeding terms; the ratio of two consecutive terms tends to the golden ratio, around 1.62).

(Photograph by Esdras Calderan)

Fibonacci design

The "golden angle" is obtained by dividing 360° by the golden ratio. A locus is obtained by placing points on an Archimedes spiral rotated in turn by the golden angle. If we pick a number from the Fibonacci number sequence, we can draw the same number of logarithmic spirals in a chosen direction (here 13 and 21). Ellipses are placed in the spaces so they touch neighbouring ellipses.

Fibonacci sidetable

The pattern is designed to highlight a beautiful relationship between tangential ellipses and Fibonacci spirals. The shapes are orientated towards the centre to maximise their areas and allows the design to flow in different directions.

From clouds to Harriss

Cloud formations

My first research project was an investigation of rainfall processes across the hills of west Auckland, New Zealand. The maritime environment leads to a diverse range of cloud types. The patterns found in clouds still resonate in me for their ethereal nature.

Harriss design

I wanted to model diagonal structures that arise from periodic deformations of a regular array. I have modified a mathematical function that I came across while looking at work by Edmund Harriss, a mathematician, writer and artist.

Harriss sidetable

As a designer, a key decision is how to crop an infinite pattern to obtain the exact "look" that was intended. Some shapes were removed to provide a focal point of the design and allows the mathematical basis of the pattern to remain somewhat hidden.