I acquired this rare Australian table years ago, 2004, about the time a grilled cheese sandwich in the US, resembling Jesus sold for $28,000.
I thought what the?
I saw an Aboriginal elder inside a piece of Australian cedar!
I had Russell Winnell photograph the table in great detail and featured at a Sydney antique fair. I returned to Melbourne and forgot about until now.
Take a close look and tell me what you think?
A unique 19th Century Australian cedar and blackwood tilt top breakfast or dining table.
The well patinated circular tilt top above a turned support and lower turned finial resting on carved cabriole legs with claw feet and the original brass and porcelain castors.
H: 2’ 5” – 73 cm
C: 3’ 12” – 120 cm
Note: The underside of the top revealing a section of knotted grain giving the impression of the side facial profile of an Aboriginal male elder.
The shaped top rail, above a fret carved tapered centre splat, flanked by shaped tapered uprights.
The freshly upholstered soft mint chenille seats blending beautifully.
Resting on a square leg, joined by stretchers.
This set of chairs were very tired, so we cleaned back the surface and refinished them in a soft white.
Would never dream of doing this to a period chair, however this method of restoration has vastly improved these.
These chairs would look fantastic with a period french fruitwood farmhouse table.
The last set I sold through a decorator in 2009.
These chairs also featured in a home I dressed in Elwood 2009.
To see the story of the Elwood home, search ‘Elwood’ on this website.
Above is a one off set of 19th Regency period watercolours of Indian birds, in Kamataka, Southwest India.
Dated 1828
Also, my favourite 17th Century botanical engraver, Hendrick Draakestein 1686.
A Rare and Unusual Retro Book-Matched Figured Walnut Central Joined Adjustable Nest of Tables on turned tapered legs. The circular tops having the original coloured formica edging.
London : The Working Men’s Educational Union, King William Street, n.d. [circa 1860]. Coloured lithograph wall hanging printed on calico, 880 x 1200 mm, the lower left hand corner stamped Working Mens Educational Union. King William St, Trafalgar Square, London, and numbered 123 below; verso with contemporary manuscript caption at upper edge: Australia – arrival at Sydney; original brass eyelets at each corner with original sewn in linen loops for hanging; original fold lines (three horizontal and three vertical); the banner is in a remarkably good state of preservation, the colours still strong and vibrant.
A philanthropic organisation founded in London in 1853, the Working Men’s Educational Union provided free education for the working classes through public lectures at different venues across the city. This wall hanging, which would have been used as part of a display illustrating a lecture on the Antipodes, depicts newly arrived passengers being rowed from ship to shore in Sydney Harbour, with Government House and Fort Macquarie on the right. The immigrant ship is under both sail and steam (the first steam ship to arrive in Sydney was the Sophia Jane in 1831). Although the original artist is unidentified, the graphic is almost certainly after a published lithograph, possibly one which appeared in a journal such as the Illustrated London News. The dress of the passengers in the foreground suggests the original drawing would have been made around 1850.
The National Library of Australia holds twelve similar lithographic wall hangings commissioned by the Working Men’s Educational Union (Rex Nan Kivell Collection, NK801) which illustrate gold mining subjects. However, this particular grand scene of Sydney Harbour appears to be unrecorded.
The Alexander Turnbull Library in New Zealand holds four lithograph wall hangings bearing the Working Men’s Educational Union stamp. These depict scenes titled Panning for gold; Missionary distributing Bibles to Taranaki Maoris; Interior of Otaki Church (after Charles Decimus Barraud), and War dance before the pah of Ohinemutu, near Rotorua Lake (after George French Angas; in turn, after Joseph Jenner Merrett).
