A proud royal heritage
Historic roots brought to life with warm British hospitality & theatrical dining experiences.
The Rubens at the Palace
London
Enriching, rewarding & exceptional
Our beautifully restored historic hotel is cared for by a team who take genuine pride in delivering impeccable service and exceeding expectations at every turn. Overlooking The Royal Mews of Buckingham Palace - the entrance used by the Royal family - The Rubens showcases exceptional dining journeys, and enriching and rewarding experiences, from the very first moment guests are greeted by our red-uniformed doormen...
Our hotel remains open and we are here to welcome you for any business-related stay. Our restaurants and bars are closed, however you can enjoy in-room dining throughout your stay.
Adam Birch
Cape Town, South Africa
Birch spent seven months on site at Xigera carving more than 150 large-scale timber sculptures for the lodge. He worked alongside a team of local carpenters, training them in woodworking skills that will stay with them for life. A passionate environmentalist based on Cape Town’s South Peninsula, Birch takes a trunk-to-twig approach.
Andile Dyalvane
Cape Town, South Africa
Andile Dyalvane is the most recongnised South African ceramicist and ranked amongst the top 5 ceramicists in the world. Born in 1978 in the small village of Ngobozana, near Qobo-Qobo, he grew up farming and looking after his father’s cattle herd – sewing a deep connection to the land and his Xhosa culture that resonates powerfully through his work today.
Atang Tshikare
Cape Town, South Africa
Born in Bloemfontein, Atang Tshikare makes narrative-laden work inspired by his deep connection to his Sotho and Tswana roots. His drawings and sculptures spring from his fertile imagination and Interest in African mythology. While he began as an illustrator, his work has expanded into new materials such as bronze, clay & wood.
Charles Haupt
Cape Town, South Africa
Charles Haupt was born in 1980 in Johannesburg and graduated from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology as an industrial designer in 2001. Working closely with Otto du Plessis, he has spearheaded the functional design side of Bronze Age Studio.
Chuma Maweni
Cape Town, South Africa
A master of hand-thrown ceramics, Chuma Maweni makes exquisitely crafted ceramic vessels and furniture from his studio in Cape Town. Chuma was born in Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape. He traces his interest in ceramics to his earliest memories making clay figures of bulls and cows on the muddy riverbanks.
Conrad Hicks
Cape Town, South Africa
Widely considered South Africa’s foremost artist blacksmith, Conrad is a deeply philosophical artist who has long immersed himself in the history of human evolution and anthropology. His work is extremely labour-intensive, transforming solid pieces of metal into new expressive forms.
David Krynauw
Johannesburg, South Africa
Johannesburg based woodworker, David Krynauw was born in 1984 in Piet Retief, a forestry town in Mpumalanga. He grew up sharing an enormous passion for wood and woodwork with his father
Dokter and Misses
product designers
Husband-and-wife team Adriaan Hugo and Katy Taplin are Dokter and Misses, a multi-disciplinary product design company. Their respective industrial and graphic design skills combine to create work described as “modernist, where strong construction lines and a bold use of colour create graphic shapes and spaces.”
Dylan Lewis
Stellenbosch, South Africa
Dylan Lewis is widely recognised as one of the world’s foremost sculptors of the animal form. Born in Johannesburg in 1964, he is now based in Stellenbosch, just outside Cape Town, where he has established the Dylan Lewis Studio and Sculpture Garden.
Jesse Ede
Cape Town, South Africa
A self-taught designer, every new project sees him taking on a new design challenge and adding to his repertoire of skills. Born in Cape Town in 1985, he has worked as an artisan all around the world, including a long stint as a carpenter for a boat-building company in Antigua.
John Vogel
Cape Town, South Africa
John Vogel is an architect-turned-designer whose work connects people to the natural world. He is one of South Africa’s foremost furniture designers, whose work has helped define a distinct vernacular. His designs have become local classics, evolving a language of nature-inspired forms that are highly contemporary
Madoda Fani
Cape Town, South Africa
Madoda Fani is the eldest of five siblings born in 1975 and raised in Gugulethu, a township on the outskirts of the infamous Cape Flats in Cape Town. His works draw on inspirations from his Xhosa heritage.
Meyer von Wielligh
George, South Africa
Abrie von Wielligh and Norman Meyer co-founded Meyer von Wielligh, a carpentry and design studio based in George, in 2004. Their large-scale functional art pieces are all intricately crafted, reflecting the organic lines and intricate textures of their natural surroundings on the forested Garden Route of South Africa.
Otto du Plessis
Cape Town, South Africa
Otto du Plessis is primarily a sculptor, specialising in figurative bronze work. He is the co-founder of Bronze Age Foundry in Cape Town, who are responsible for an extraordinary amount of custom-made metalwork at Xigera Safari Lodge – from special features such as the lily fireplace in the Main Lodge to the smallest details.
Porky Hefer
Cape Town, South Africa
Porky Hefer is amongst the most significant African designers. He was born in 1968, in the era where Radical Design emerged. Inspired by the idea of biomimicry, Porky Hefer sees his work as part of an interconnected system of artisans making the most sustainable use of local resources.
Stanislaw Trzebinski
Cape Town, South Africa
Born in Kenya, Stanislaw Trzebinski works in Cape Town. He is a very accomplished sculptor and young designer with a large collector following. He is inspired by natural patterns and underwater growths. He is prolific, exceptionally talented, willing to experiment in new materials, and a perfectionist at heart.
Xandre Kriel
Furniture designer
Cape Town designer Xandre Kriel creates limited-edition furniture through the use of simple geometry. The aesthetic appeal of shapes is his motivating force, and for nearly 11 years he has found a balance between working with the tactile properties of wood and the technological processes involved in steelwork.
Zizipho Poswa
Cape Town, South Africa
Zizipho Poswa’s unique ceramics vessels are bold declarations of African womanhood. The Cape Town-based artist is inspired by her Xhosa heritage. Her work has been acquired by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA).