Patinations

Early Breakfront Cedar Robe

Cedar and Huon Pine early Australian Breakfront Wardrobe, early 19th century.

This important piece of early Australian furniture features Huon pine as its secondary interior timber, and is thus probably of Tasmanian manufacture. Stylistically, its French feet, as well as other physical evidence, date the wardrobe as early as 1815.

This robe had suffered from a lot of timber movement, checking, splitting and warping which had been caused by the selection of solid cedar for its construction and decorative elements. Movement is a very common issue with colonial furniture that can sometimes impede its function. The use of solid timbers in early Australian cabinet making is a dominant feature. Unfortunately a buckled door panel had previously been reduced to a paper-thin thickness in a misguided attempt to flatten the panel.

Our conservation work consisted of patching and successfully strengthening the door panel. The robe also features hand cast hinges which due to their high copper content had worn severely; these were shimmed with washers allowing the doors to function properly again.