Alexandra Llewellyn: bespoke backgammon boards from Kinnerton Street
Kinnerton Street is one of those quiet Belgravia mews that most people walk past on the way to somewhere else. Behind one of its doors is a studio making some of the most extraordinary objects in the neighbourhood: bespoke backgammon boards so intricate that, from a few feet away, they look painted. Alexandra Llewellyn has been making them for 15 years, and as autumn approaches and thoughts turn to heirloom gifts, her workshop deserves a visit.
From paintbrush to marquetry
Llewellyn began with hand-painted backgammon boards, each designed around a client's taste and interests. As demand grew, she found herself painting commissions late into the night, and through research she arrived at a different technique: marquetry, or painting with wood. Each board now uses hundreds, sometimes thousands, of pieces of timber in different colours and grains, arranged into compositions of real depth. Step back and they read as paintings; step closer and the grain of the wood comes through the surface.
Materials from another world
Materials are the thread that runs through the studio's work, and Llewellyn selects every one personally. As the Knightsbridge Partnership discovered on a visit, the studio recently sourced Martian meteorite for a commission, and the meteor dealer has since sent lunar rock, which the team has been grinding with a pestle and mortar and grading for use as pigment. It is hard to think of a more literal definition of bespoke, or a better story to tell over a game.
The range now goes well beyond backgammon. The workshop wall is lined with one-of-a-kind pieces, and the studio makes playing cards, full-size games tables and intricate jewellery boxes as well as boards.
Time and craft
Almost three quarters of the business is bespoke commissions, from luxury brands, internationally known figures and royalty, and the finished pieces end up in private homes and hotels. None of it is quick. A single backgammon board takes around three to six months to make, and a full games table can take up to nine. The studio sits at the centre of a network of 20 specialist workshops around the UK.
Why backgammon
Backgammon is one of the oldest games in existence, dating back some 5,000 years to ancient Mesopotamia, and its popularity continues to grow. It rewards strategic thinking, quick calculation and composure under pressure, and the doubling cube, invented in the 1930s, has no upper limit: it can turn a £100 stake into £6,400 within a single game, with the outcome sometimes settled in under a minute. Small wonder a beautiful board feels like an heirloom.
Visiting and commissioning
Kinnerton Street is a short walk from both Knightsbridge and Hyde Park Corner stations, tucked behind the hotels of Knightsbridge itself. Anyone planning a Christmas commission should note the lead times: a board ordered now would be cutting it fine for December, so it is worth starting the conversation soon. For more independent makers and boutiques, see our Knightsbridge shopping guide.
