item details
Overview
A work or sewing table, made mainly of Rimu, the table top is veneered, and inlaid with a star pattern of various NZ woods within a circle. The lid is fitted with stop hinges and lifts to reveal a rectangular panel inlaid in a 'falling block' pattern in at least 3 different NZ woods. The work bag section of the table has 20 compartments (lids are missing) and a central well lined with original blue paper. The sides of the table top are cut in a 'centurion skirt' motif; beneath is the work box, on the lower edge of which is a scalloped frieze. The table is mounted on a turned, carved and reeded column which is mounted on a quadraform base supported by four carved scroll feet.
This is a very rare surviving example of high-quality New Zealand furniture of the early colonial period. It is made in a style fashionable in England during the late Regency/William IV/ early Victorian periods (i.e. circa 1825-1850) and shows in its construction an appreciation of the decorative qualities of New Zealand's indigenous timbers for which the best of the colony's earliest cabinetmakers are renowned.