How to identify genuine G Plan furniture

Where can I find the G Plan maker's mark?

The quickest way to identify genuine G Plan furniture is to locate its maker's mark. From 1952 to 1965, the company used a gold embossed stamp reading "E. Gomme, High Wycombe". This stamp is pressed directly into the wood, featuring the initials EG in the centre surrounded by the company name. You will find this on early pieces, including light oak cabinets from the 1940s and 1950s, and the later Tola and Black range.

From about 1965 to the mid 1970s the mark is a simpler red and white paper label. The red and gold foil sticker with "G Plan" in script, which is the one most people picture, came in around 1975. Both are stickers, so they peel off, and plenty of genuine pieces have lost theirs to an over-enthusiastic cleaner.

To find these labels on a sideboard, check the inside of every drawer, starting with the top right. On a dining table, pull the two halves apart and look at the underside of the extending middle leaf. On chairs, the sticker is usually on the underside of the seat pad, right in the middle of the webbing. If a piece is missing its label, you must look at the construction to confirm its origin.

What materials and woods did G Plan use?

G Plan furniture from the 1960s and 1970s is almost entirely finished in teak veneer. The factory was meticulous about grain matching. If you look at a bank of drawers on a cabinet, the wood grain should flow continuously from the top drawer down to the bottom.

The edges, handles and legs are usually solid afromosia. This African hardwood is darker and slightly redder than teak, providing a distinct contrast. If the handles are plastic or metal, unless it is an early 1950s piece with brass handles, you are likely looking at a different maker.

Beneath the high-quality teak veneer, G Plan used high-density particle board. This mass-production technique makes the furniture exceptionally heavy. It also creates a specific vulnerability. You need to check the bottom edges of sideboards and the feet of wardrobes. If the piece has sat on a damp carpet or in a wet garage, the particle board will have absorbed water and swollen. This blows the veneer off the surface, and you cannot easily fix blown chipboard.

How do I identify specific G Plan ranges like Fresco, Quadrille and Astro?

G Plan produced several distinct furniture ranges, with Fresco, Quadrille and Astro being the most recognisable.

The Fresco range, introduced in 1966 and designed by Victor Bramwell Wilkins, is the most successful line G Plan ever produced. You can identify Fresco by its sculpted, organic solid afromosia handles. They look a little like a smiling mouth or a split pod, carved from a single piece of wood. The drawer joints are dovetailed and should feel perfectly flush to the touch. The drawer bases are made of solid mahogany.

The Quadrille range, designed by R. Bennett in 1965, has a completely different profile. You can spot Quadrille by its sled-style legs that sit outside the main body of the cabinet. The handles are rectangular and made from dark rosewood.

The Astro is the circular glass-topped table everyone recognises. G Plan called it the Model 8040 and Astro is the name the trade settled on afterwards, so do not expect to find the word stamped anywhere on the piece. It is circular or oval, with a base of intersecting curved wooden legs. The top features a large inset panel. This is usually glass, though we occasionally see them with original black perspex inset tops. G Plan also produced heavy seating in the 1970s and 1980s, including saddleback brown leather three-seater sofas mounted on castors.

How can I tell G Plan apart from other mid-century brands?

We usually have twenty to forty G Plan pieces in stock. Prices start around £145 for an Astro bedside table and reach £900 for a Fresco sideboard in excellent condition. Most pieces sit near £400, which buys a standard Fresco cabinet or a set of afromosia teak and cane dining chairs.

Because of these values, people often mistake cheaper mid-century brands for G Plan. Schreiber is the most common lookalike, while Nathan and McIntosh also share similar design traits. You can distinguish genuine G Plan from these brands by examining the materials and construction details.

Brand	Material and Finish	Identifying Features
G Plan	Real teak veneer	Contrasting solid afromosia handles; dovetailed wood drawers
Schreiber	Printed wood grain on paper	Moulded plastic drawer interiors; feels smooth and artificial
Nathan	Real wood (lighter, yellower teak)	Distinctive square panel designs on cabinet doors
McIntosh	High-end real teak	Handles integrated into the wood rather than applied

Schreiber used printed wood grain on paper rather than real wood veneer. If you run your hand over a Schreiber top, it feels completely smooth and artificial. Schreiber drawers also feature moulded plastic interiors, whereas G Plan drawers are always made of wood.

Nathan furniture used real wood, but they favoured a lighter, slightly yellower teak and distinctive square panel designs on their cabinet doors. McIntosh made high-end teak sideboards that are very similar in quality to G Plan, but McIntosh handles are typically integrated into the wood rather than applied as contrasting afromosia pieces.

What is a quick checklist for identifying G Plan furniture?

To confirm a piece is genuine G Plan, follow these practical checks:

• Look in the top right drawer or under the main surface for the gold E. Gomme stamp or the square red metallic sticker.
• Check the drawer interiors. They should be dovetailed wood with mahogany bases, never moulded plastic.
• Feel the handles and edges. They should be solid wood, usually darker afromosia, contrasting with the main teak veneer.
• Lift one end of the piece. G Plan is built on dense particle board and will feel significantly heavier than modern flat-pack furniture.
• Run your hand along the bottom edges to check for water damage and swollen chipboard.

If you are looking for an original piece with its history intact, you can browse the G Plan furniture currently available in our West Yorkshire shop.

Browse the G Plan pieces we have in stock. Everything we sell is one of a kind, so if a piece is gone, tell us what you are after and we will look out for it.