James Mudge Furniture Studio

The Pick Up Sticks Server, in Walnut.

This unique design takes its name from the familiar children’s game that involves carefully removing sticks from a scattered arrangement without disturbing the rest of the pile.

It’s a playful reference for a piece that is, underneath it all, a precise feat of engineering. Twenty years into making furniture, the Pick Up Sticks is still one of our all time favourite designs.

We are thrilled to officially introduce to you the Keyworth Table.

A new design from the studio, and one that has been a long time in the making, the Keyworth is a natural evolution of our Harvest Table. Clean lines and 90 degree angles give the Keyworth a distinct character, well suited to more contemporary spaces. A purity of design is reflected in the Keyworth’s geometric form, with its considered craftsmanship is revealed through precise detailing and the quality of its finished surfaces.

Drawing on the minimalist qualities of the Tapered Leg Table, the Slimline Table takes that thinking somewhere more sculptural, into gently rounded table top ends and curved legs that mirror the form above. It’s a design that rewards a close look, and one that seamlessly makes itself at home in both modern and classically inclined spaces.

Before the shadow gaps, turned legs and finished surfaces, lies an honest, time-intensive process. It all happens at our working factory in Paarden Eiland, where solid timber arrives rough and leaves as furniture.

We’re hiring!

A 5-axis CNC operator position has opened up at James Mudge Furniture Studio. If you are a recent Engineering graduate who is keen for work experience in a dynamic furniture design and manufacturing business, please email your cv to [email protected]. Experienced 3-axis CNC operators are also welcome to apply.

There is something uniquely satisfying about a turned leg.

It’s one of the oldest details in furniture making, shaped on a lathe in a process that hasn’t changed much in centuries.

In the simple act of wood spinning against a tool, a profile emerges from a cylinder - the very same action that would have produced a leg for a Georgian dining table or a Victorian stool, utilised in modern times.

Pictured here is the Round Harris Table with turned legs, in Oak with a Gunmetal finish.

We’ve been making solid wood furniture in Cape Town since 2006 - every piece to order, every surface finished by hand. It’s a process that takes time, and one we’ve built everything around. The studio, the team, the way we work, all of it exists to serve the making of beautiful things that last.

Good design and careful attention to detail endures. We believe in designing furniture that sits well across different settings and remains relevant across decades. This means longevity has to be considered from the very beginning of the design process, in the structure and the joinery, well before the choice of timber or finish.