An intriguing listing on Trademe in 2022 showed some doors from a previously unknown Seuffert escritoire desk (see other entry for details).  There are 11 of these magnificent cabinets extant and about half are in museums, so parts of a 12th one turning up was big news.  The side doors and 6 of the 8 drawers were purchased by my client and presented to me with instructions to build a cabinet worthy of them. 

 

Building something to incorporate elements from Anton Seuffert - arguably the greatest cabinet maker to ever work in Australasia - was something of a challenge.  The doors themselves are works of art in their own right and could easily be displayed as they were. In fact, it was interesting to see them as singular objects and not surrounded by the rest of the dazzling cabinet, they were like heavy intricate artefacts from another world.

 

As such it was necessary to strike a balance between a cabinet that was sufficiently impressive to work with the doors and drawers but not require months of work to build.  The design was adapted from photos as well as previous hands-on experience with two other escritoires. It was a good opportunity to use up bits of interesting NZ timber and veneer I had collected over the years.   For the carcase I found some truly stunning old kauri weather boards from a local demo yard, a beautiful grain was hidden under layers of lead paint.

 

Aside from the sheer complexity of the decorative side of things was the added difficulty of constructing a carcase around six drawers that must fit snugly and could not be altered in any way.  A cabinet of drawers is really a little wooden machine and must function properly, as well as look good. Reverse-engineering a cabinet around eight moveable components- the doors and drawers -  tested patience and skill but the end result came together well.