Chiffonier

This totara chiffonier, found in an abandoned Taranaki farmhouse in the late 1980s, was made in around 1870. It has one full-width drawer with two cupboards beneath, and one of the cupboards has a keyhole with the original lock. A circular wooden rosette medallion has been added as a decorative feature. The white porcelain knobs are from the same period, but are not original to the cabinet.

Historian and furniture restorer William Cottrell describes the decorative treatment on this chiffonier as distinctly 'un-English,' suggesting that the cabinetmaker was likely an early immigrant from continental Europe. Nineteenth-century settlers came to New Zealand from all over the world, and these global influences are reflected in early colonial furniture. 

Further reading

Cottrell, William. 2006. Furniture of the New Zealand Colonial Era, An Illustrated History 1830-1900. Auckland: Reed.