Description
SOLD for $1395 in 2021. Regularly visit our NEWLY LISTED Category or Follow us on Instagram – www.instagram.com/invisedge .
This table is being sold UNDER CONSIGNMENT from a regular seller in North Lakes, BRISBANE NORTHSIDE. Delivery Australia-wide can be arranged by one of our friendly team. Cost of delivery to Sydney for this piece would be APPROX. $180. This will give you a rough idea of the delivery price to other locations. If you need a definite price for delivery please call the phone number on our Home Page. I personally photographed this piece so have inspected it carefully and given it the big thumbs up! (Our vendor found this second-hand which is the only reason it’s so cheap!)
Provenance and Background Info
(Written in 2021. Some information given eg. values may be time-sensitive.)
A stunning HAND-CRAFTED desk / hall table by John Neep, an artist who immigrated to Australia from the UK with his parents in 1950. This piece was crafted by John from SOLID Western Australian Jarrah in the 1990’s. It takes strong cues from the Danish modern furniture movement and has the fluidity and refined essence of a master. In fact, I’ve seen no writing table in my time in this business that’s more inspiring by ANY furniture-maker, Danish or otherwise. The piece is exceptional and if I needed a desk at this point I’d be buying it myself (from my vendor for this asking price).
In my eyes this type of thing is the most special furniture investment money can buy. ONE-OFF pieces completely crafted and shaped BY HAND have an appeal mass-produced pieces will never have- they have a life-energy and love in them that’s rarely felt anymore. This is the type of thing I’m always striving to find for iNVISeDGE but rarely get. The carpentry skills required to build a piece of this stature have almost been lost in today’s world. Perhaps someone in Australia will see this listing and be inspired to create similar pieces for a new generation. iNVISeDGE has a band of buyers who will only go for something like this and that band is growing.
The other thing this has going for it is its practicality- it’s quite narrow and with all our files being stored on computers these days this piece would serve anyone as a desk in any home. It’d look sensational anywhere- even on display in your living room. If you don’t have a home office it’d also be perfect in a bedroom. The piece takes up little floor space so it’d fit virtually anywhere. Just put your computer in a cupboard at the end of the day and you’ll have an inspiring piece of art to admire after you finish work. Because it’s narrow, this piece would also be perfect in the hallway at the entry to rest your shopping on as you come in.
Here’s probably the biggest selling point of the piece though … IT’S CRAFTED FULLY FROM SOLID TIMBER. No crappy Parker veneer here (NO “Weetbix” chipboard, NO plastic laminate). With timber veneer over chipboard you can only sand them about twice before they end up as landfill. This piece has been crafted for a life-time of use (or more). John used SOLID slabs of Jarrah so this piece can be sanded back as many times as you want. The construction skill (and quality) is amazing- John Neep has cut NO corners. The piece was lovingly (and meticulously) crafted to last and it has- look at it after about 25 years of use!
From this standpoint it’s as environmentally-friendly as possible but it offers so much more. It’s the inspiration and love the piece has that makes it special in my eyes. You could search high and low for decades and not find a writing table / desk with more appeal. Investing in items that are built to last generations (like this piece) is our only way out of this mess!
John Neep is a Perth artist who served an apprenticeship as a carpenter and joiner, however, upon receipt of his trade papers he immediately left the industry to pursue other professional careers. His skills as a furniture-maker (and artist) were largely ignored until he semi-retired in 1990. I’m sure this happens a lot- there are few avenues for work like this to be sold. Most people these days have subscribed to that “I want it cheap and I want it now” mentality. Sadly, there is little incentive for items like this to be made anymore but that is slowly changing. There is a growing band of buyers who want less stuff and the items they invite into their lives must be special and worthy of their attention.
After Neep semi-retired he began designing and handcrafting wall murals and fine-furniture pieces in Jarrah. His works immediately won awards and received the attention of artist friends who urged him to go to college and study Fine Arts and Design. He did this for four years, and these days, as a talented artist and wood sculptor, he has held many successful exhibitions. His only regret is, he didn’t do this years earlier.
This table sold in a gallery for $1400 back in the late-1990’s. With inflation, it would now be worth about $2400. If John had been making pieces like this all his life he would have started to develop a following of buyers and I have no doubt a piece of this esteem would fetch $3000 today by a well-established artist. At our price, one lucky iNVISeDGE buyer will be nabbing a very solid investment. This piece can’t lose any value because the skills needed to create anything like this are slowly dying out. One-off furniture pieces with this level of appeal are becoming harder and harder to get.
… If you would like to create pieces like this for iNVISeDGE get in contact with us- we’d be keen to work with you. When we get a following for your work the value of items such as this will increase. These days in 2020, I believe there is a career in making items like this and iNVISeDGE can help you shape your career. You might need to do some standard custom-work at the start to supplement your “artist work” but if you can come up with items of this callibre, it won’t take long for you to develop a strong following of devoted customers.
2101
