Colonial Baltic Pine Apprentice Cabinet, South Australian

Victorian

Circa mid to late 19th century | Australia

An antique Australian Colonial Baltic pine apprentice cabinet in the form of a wardrobe (see The Gen) made in the Barossa Valley in the mid to late nineteenth century. The cabinet is made of Baltic pine and has two doors and a single drawer. Internally there are hooks and a rail and it is painted in a mint green with an undercoat of purple. The half-moon accent decoration on the doors and the simplicity of the design are of the restrained Biedermeier style employed by the cabinet makers of the era (see The Gen). A rare piece of apprentice craftmanship.

DIMENSIONS: Height 40 cm, width 24.5 cm, and depth 15.5 cm.

CONDITION: The cabinet is in very good condition with wear commensurate with antique age. It is structurally sound with a lovely deep honey colour and aged patina. The right-hand door, whilst it shuts, is not completely aligned at the top. This, however, is not visible when viewing from the front.

REFERENCES: For examples of early German colonial furniture painted with green finishes see a mantel cupboard, dresser and chair in Memories: A Survey of Early Australian Furniture in the Collection of the Lord McAlpine of West Green, Graham Cornall, Australian City Properties Limited, 1990, pp 222, 224 and 231.

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THE GEN

“Miniature furniture and goods have a long history, and over the centuries miniature furniture has been made for many reasons … they may be salespeople’s samples for prospective furniture buyers to see scale model before ordering a full-sized piece to be made by a cabinet-maker … Apprentice pieces were also made, as a way for an apprentice cabinet-maker to show his woodworking skills and capabilities to a prospective employer.” (The Kitchen Dresser, In Praise of a Furniture Icon, Simon Griffiths, Thames & Hudson, 2022, p. 159)

“Australian Colonial furniture, while exhibiting its own unique style, was in some regions of the country influenced to a large degree by the origins of the area’s settlers. In South Australia the German influence played a significant role in the furniture designs of the Colonial era. During the 19th century 460 German cabinet makers were to arrive in South Australia. The earliest settlers had not been able to bring much more than a chest containing the barest essentials due partly to the cramped conditions of the vessels that transported them and partly because of their general impoverishment–they had nothing else to bring.

So everything for the home had to be reproduced in Australia, and the Barossa Valley offered an abundance of timber for cabinet-making and carpentry, and clays in the nearby hills suitable for pottery making. Much of the furniture made by the German cabinet makers was in the Biedermeier style which had developed in Germany, Austria and Denmark from the end of the Napoleonic Wars to the late 1840s. This was a restrained neo-classical style following on from the French Empire style and incredibly popular with the middle classes of the time. Being so far removed from external influences, the craftsmen of South Australia continued to work in this style until as late as the 1880s, long after this style had lost favour in their homeland.” (Daily Examiner, 22 August 2009, p. 30)

“Decorated doors frames, whilst not common on ordinary kitchen fittings, were regularly used on larger items of Barossa Valley furniture, particularly clothes cupboards and dressers.” (Memories: A Survey of Early Australian Furniture in the Collection of the Lord McAlpine of West Green, Graham Cornall, Australian City Properties Limited, 1990, p. 220)

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