NIGEL BRIDGES cabinetmaker and artist craftsman

RIDDELL CABINET: 1997/8
Yew with sycamore and ebony wedges.
Mahogany drawer sides and backs.
Southern yellow pine drawer bottoms.
39½" x 16" x 76½" high
£8000 (UK delivery £100)

This cabinet can only be purchased directly - Please telephone or e:mail.

This cabinet is made of solid yew, that was reclaimed from a batch of old floorboards that I bought from a local landowner. The boards were all 5/8" thick. This cabinet is constructed using wedged through tenons and dovetails throughout. The carcase construction also features patterns of contrasting sycamore and ebony wedges.

The cabinet examines the oriental tradition of not displaying objects (particularly ceramics) but rather keeping them in their own boxes. Each cupboard in this cabinet has a mortise lock fitted (as do the drawers). The handles are hand carved.

All the doors have braced and ledge construction with the ledges having a running dovetail. This secures to the upright door boards allowing them to move about a central copper nail. The copper nail heads also form a decorative pattern and are lacquered to prevent tarnishing. The grain on the upper cabinet doors runs the full length of the doors.

Note that the top cabinet back panels run horizontally which provides better visual linkage from left to right, rather than isolating the cabinet into three distinct longitudinal elements.

Although the grain is wild and looks random, great care was used in the placement of all boards to give a visual balance. The drawer front grain is book matched.

The finish is oil on cabinet scraped wood which is very natural. I have always been very interested in vernacular furniture and this is a celebration of this tradition.

www.nigelbridges.com