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This huge coffee table is a very impressive piece (56 inches square), and will need a large room to fit
it into. However, it is so beautiful that it will be treasured by
anyone who truly appreciates the finest hardwoods (and this is the
finest!). As with all our harvested Zambezi Teak coffee (or centre)
tables it can be made with turned legs.
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Height
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Width
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Depth
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Imperial |
Metric |
Imperial |
Metric |
Imperial |
Metric | |
16 inches |
400 mm |
4 feet 8 inches |
1400 mm |
4 feet 8 inches |
1400 mm | |
16 inches
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400 mm
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3 feet 4 inches |
1000 mm
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3 feet 4 inches
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1000 mm
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Coffee Tables available in Reclaimed & Harvested Zambezi Teak. Click on Images to Enlarge:
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Reclaimed African Hardwood Table
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Harvested Zambezi Teak Table
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This
huge coffee table is a VERY impressive piece (56 inches square), and
will need a large room to fit it into. However, it is so beautiful that
it will be treasured by anyone who truly appreciates the finest
hardwoods (and this is the finest!). As with all our reclaimed African
Hardwood coffee (or centre) tables it can be made in a rough version
(where we leave the wonderful character of the original timers surface
exposed) or as a smooth table with turned legs.
Manufactured from ancient African hardwoods that have been reclaimed
principally from railroads, the timber used was harvested fifty to a
hundred and fifty years ago by early colonial settlers. We purchase the
railway sleepers, or ties, as they are replaced by concrete. They are
now a very rare commodity, and therefore a unique investment. Because
of the rarity of the resource, only a limited number of tables can ever
be made. Their value is enhanced by the fact that they are from a fully
reclaimed, or recycled, source, allowing you to enjoy the beautiful
grain and texture of probably the finest furniture wood in the world
without any guilt that a tree may have been cut down to afford you the
pleasure! Because of the years spent on the railway line where the
timber is exposed to the full fury of the elements and massively heavy
trains thundering overhead, it develops a particular character or
distressed look. This happens to varying degrees depending on the
length of time the timber has been down, its position on the line and
so on. This character only adds to the beauty of the wonderful timber
from which it originated.
An investment of a lifetime that will last for many lifetimes.
The wildness and beauty of the African bush growing on the deep and
ancient sands of the Kalahari veldt belies the savagely harsh
conditions under which diverse species of flora manage to prosper and
grow. To survive these adverse conditions requires a resilience and
toughness unknown in other species. One of the hardest and most durable
of these African hardwood trees, Baikiaea plurijuga, a.k.a. Zambezi
Teak, is amongst the most beautiful timbers in the world, with a fine,
close grain and deep, rich natural colour. Savanna Wood harvest B.
plurijuga on a strictly sustainable basis from the vast forests of
Matabeleland situated on the fringe of the Kalahari Desert, under the
watchful supervision of the Forestry Commission, an internationally
respected body who are charged with the preservation of all indigenous
forests. Savanna Wood pay royalties on all timber cut to Forestry
Commission and into a trust for development projects in the communities
living on the fringes of the forests. These projects include self
sufficiency gardening projects, installation of boreholes, development
of school and clinic infrastructure and so on (please see our sections
on Community Projects, the Savanna Wood Employment Policy and
Preserving the Zambezi Teak forests). Because they benefit so much
from these arrangements, it is in the communities interests to
preserve the forests. If they did not benefit in this manner it would
not be in their interests to look after the forest, and they would
simply cut the trees down and convert it to agricultural use. This
would be a disaster on two counts: firstly we would lose the teak
forests, and secondly the very fragile soils of the Kalahari sands
would rapidly deteriorate under peasant agricultural practice and
become desert wasteland. The sustainable utilization of these forests
is therefore essential to their preservation.
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