| In the previous two articles we discussed Hints For | | | | settlement. Our small population is indicative of how |
| Determining Age and Quality and the question Should | | | | few pieces of furniture would have been |
| the Furniture be Restored? These topics bring us to | | | | manufactured in those early years. A substantial |
| another few points worth mentioning which are so | | | | number of convicts made up the population listed |
| often overlooked when purchasing a piece of | | | | below. Most of the remainder of the population were |
| furniture, are the quality, rarity, provenance and | | | | able to afford little more than the barest of |
| cabinet makers. | | | | essentials. That is why all early surviving examples are |
| Quality consists of a number of factors starting with | | | | so highly prized. |
| the materials used for the manufacture of an item | | | | Population statistics 1828-1901: |
| right through to the ability of the cabinet-maker or | | | | - 1828 - population 36,598 |
| upholsterer, taking into consideration the working | | | | - 1833 - population 70,794 |
| conditions, when it was made and the availability of | | | | - 1841 - population 130,856 |
| materials. So therefore, I believe if recycled materials | | | | - 1851 - population 338,474 |
| are used it does not necessarily mean these materials | | | | - 1861 - population 1,136,454 |
| were of poor quality. With furniture there is seldom a | | | | - 1871 - population 1,663,039 |
| piece made where timber was not selected for the | | | | - 1881 - population 2,250,194 |
| specific function that it had to perform. An example | | | | - 1891 - population 3,177,823 |
| of this is for mouldings. You would select timber for | | | | - 1901 - population 3,773,801 |
| straightness of grain. For door panels one would | | | | For some collectors provenance is considered to be |
| choose figure over stability. | | | | more important than knowing the maker of the piece |
| Whenever a piece of Australian furniture is seen with | | | | because it unveils the intrigue of our colonial past - |
| a split in it, poor quality workmanship should not be | | | | the sheer esteem of owning and using the very |
| assumed. Many of the figurative timbers are very | | | | same piece of furniture as had one of our pioneers, |
| unstable and extremely hard to work by hand. Many | | | | or, even sitting at the same desk that William Cox |
| twisted doors and bowed drawer fronts are due to | | | | laboured on. The prospects are exciting and, I feel, |
| the figure and grain of the timber used in the | | | | create a closer bond with our short, but exciting past. |
| manufacture of that particular piece. There are also | | | | There are very few pieces of Australian furniture |
| many pieces of Australian furniture that have splits | | | | that bear cabinet-maker's identification prior to 1840. |
| because of the use of unseasoned timber. The rap id | | | | Signed, labelled or impressed pieces after 1840 are |
| increase in population and wealth in the 1850s created | | | | more keenly sought after than unidentified pieces. |
| a situation where demands for good quality seasoned | | | | This is so for several reasons, namely the familiarity |
| timber were well in excess or the dry boards | | | | and reliability of trading in labelled pieces from the |
| available for cabinetmaking. It must also be said that | | | | better workshops means that each cabinet-making |
| many Chinese cabinet-makers working in Australia in | | | | shop manufactured to a standard, and as such, a |
| the latter half of the 19th century manufactured | | | | certain guarantee of workmanship and quality of |
| goods from inferior quality timber as the competition | | | | timber can be relied upon. You can almost purchase |
| with their European counterpart was fierce. However, | | | | these pieces without inspection as they were reliably |
| this is not true in all cases because some of the | | | | manufactured and will have very few |
| European workshops were no better. Well worth | | | | disappointments. |
| noting is that superior quality furniture was not mass | | | | It has become apparent over the last few years that |
| produced, it was commissioned, manufactured as a | | | | the collecting public have become very familiar with |
| one off, or for an exhibition. They didn't just happen, | | | | and well versed in their own specialised fields of |
| the exceptional quality was intentional. | | | | collecting. This means we will have to keep improving |
| In regard to rarity be aware the few people could | | | | our stock and store of knowledge to cater for a |
| actually afford to commission a piece of furniture | | | | more sophisticated market. |
| from a cabinet-maker in the first 50 years of | | | | |