Description
Background Info and Provenance
(This piece sold in 7 days for $2000 back in 2016. Today I’d value the exact same piece at more.)
An incredible ART DECO sideboard with superior construction most likely 1930’s or 1940’s. This could well be a Nouveau piece (ie. made in Europe) but is so rare I have no information about it. I’ve seen one other in this design in the 13 years I’ve been in this business. I bought that one (in 2006) and it sold immediately in an ebay auction. It was bid up to a little more than $2000 (2006). The auction was won by a Brisbane buyer (back when I lived in Sydney) and she paid about $200 for transit from Sydney to Brisbane (so $2200 all up was paid). The under-bidder was a businessman in Hong Kong (he asked me prior if he could bid) and I quoted him at least $1000 for sea transit and he bid anyway so he was willing to pay over $3000 for this design. You could search the shops for months (…years?) to find something that remotely comes close to this piece. Sideboards from Space Furniture can be $10 000 and $7000-$8000 in Coco Republic but there is no comparison to this piece.
The workmanship of this one is extraordinary. The whole interior is Silky Oak. To put this timber on the inside says a lot. Silky Oak is a highly-prized timber. (If memory serves me correctly it’s an Australian timber). This does NOT mean conclusively the cabinet is Australian. Back in the 1930’s and 40’s Australia still had very strong ties to England and the timber could well have been transited to England for construction in the UK or even France. (It looks French to me.) But again my hunches here mean nothing conclusively. There were a great many people who fled Europe during the wars and bought their skills to Australia with them. Many highly talented European cabinet makers operated out of Melbourne during the deco period.
One thing is for sure the piece exudes quality in every aspect of its conception and construction. The break-front, stunning curves and careful choice of rare timber veneers (over solid Silky Oak) is not something thrown together lightly. This has taken weeks, most likely months, to HAND-CREATE some 80 years ago or more. Every door has a lock and key, all the latches (that don’t need the key to close- locks are all separate) are high quality pieces and there is a drawer (made fully of Silky Oak) in two of the four cupboards.
I’d be very happy to own this piece myself. My current sideboard at home is valued at $9000- I couldn’t be bothered with the logistics of trying to find a customer for a $9000-piece at the moment otherwise this sideboard would be mine. I spent weeks restoring it BY HAND. I have to add here that it was truly humbling to be re-working the finish BY HAND the same way various artisans would have worked on this piece 80 years before. Some friends of mine would say this piece has very high “prana” (life energy) and I wouldn’t be able to dispute them. It was built by HAND, hand-planed, hand-sanded and hand-polished, made from 100% natural materials right down to the finish and has been re-worked for weeks BY HAND some 80 years later.
You will not readily find another cabinet on the market today that has so much love in it. And yes that sounds ridiculous but it’s the truth.
After thousands of flat-packed Chinese cabinets made of chipboard, plastic and worse have found their way to Australia (and the rest of the world) emitting carbon into the air as they travel the seas, this authentic ART DECO cabinet is a beacon of what we’ve lost and what we could gain again if we wanted to- PEOPLE employed to use their hands and hearts to create items for our homes- items that will tell just as many stories as this piece already has (and will continue to). Sound a bit too sentimental? Perhaps it is but every purchase we make shapes the type of world we’d like to live in.
