Designs From Post Built To Last

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32301, 20 May 1970, Page 9

Designs From Post Built To Last

At first sight, and especially to eyes accustomed to modern dining furniture, the table and chair shown above may seem crude and ungainly. Certainly the table is massive and the chairs are far from delicate.

But a second look shows that strength has been combined with sound proportions and even a certain grace. This furniture has not only been built to last but to give a pride of ownership for as long as it does.

The style is so old it can never date what’s another century to a table that goes back far beyond the Middle Ages? The table top is twoineb oak: the chair seats are cowhide fastened with heavy brass studs. Perhaps the only modern attribute .of this dining suite is the price. The table alone is $215, and the dresser (right) is $192.50. With two carver chairs and four dining chairs, the bill comes to $744.50.

There’s another disadvantage, too. For this sort of money one might expect to be able to sit back and enjoy the acquisition. But there is no super-duper synthetic finish to this furniture, just oil and beeswax that keep on soaking into the wood and have to be renewed frequently in the early days of the purchase. Yet is this really a, disadvantage? If the truth were known, there is probably a host of housewives who would like furniture they could cherish instead of merely polish. And could any thin film of synthetic be expected to last the life of this furniture?

As the Decor reporter has said previously, furniture which is made to the highest standards and of the flnest materials is the best buy. In a surprisingly short time anything less than the best may begin to look

shabby, or out of date, or both. Sooner or later, it will have to be replaced. But here we have a suite which, with reasonable care, will look better as it gets older. It could not only last a lifetime but be a valued inheritance for a grandchild. Although the suite is made in New Zealand, one is not suprised to learn that it is the work of an immigrant craftsman, Peter Smeele of Du Bois Furniture. Formerly an interior decorator ' and restorer of antique furniture, Mr Smeele came from Holland in 1952 and established a small workshop in Auck-

land four years later. He now sub-contracts some of his work to other manufacturers but his output is still limited and Ballantynes are retailers. Two further examples of Du Bois furniture are shown at bottom The El Greco stool, held by Jill Gardiner of Nelson, is not only unusual but surprisingly comfortable. At $27.50 it is expensive for a stool, but reasonably priced for a conversation piece. The $39.50 ladder-back chair showns the same flair for design but in the writer's opinion lacks the practical merits of Mr Smeele's other work.