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Margaret Cowling – Paintings

To contact Margaret:

Phone: 0438 298 743

Email: macowling@bigpond.com

Buds 3 (sold)

Loquats ($850)

The sky in the lake ($850)

Shhhh! (sold)

Fiery garden ($800)

Williamstown ($750)

Breeze ($800)

One morning in Broome

Midsummer Lake (nfs)

One morning in Broome (sold)

Breakwater, Evans Head, NSW ($800)

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I'm very fond of tambour doors. The illusion of a rigid material, seemingly flexible, disappearing out of sight, bending around corners. When considering what to do with the upper drawer of each chest, I wanted to diverge from the convention of a pop-up mirror and lidded compartments. Thought I would create tambour lidded side boxes with sliding jewellery trays and a central compartment with a sliding lid instead. Nothing removeable.

A friend of mine knew someone who was very partial to cross-banding. In veneering, it's the method of applying a decorative border to an item of furniture, usually, but not always, in a contrasting timber. At the latter's funeral, someone was heard to remark about the casket, "What!? No cross-banding?"

An image showing the serpentine tops, with the elements laid out as mirror opposites, all the way through each piece.

Thought I'd show the pair of satinwood serpentine chests prior to the stringing and crossbanding being applied. Progressed somewhat since this photo but not quite there yet.

With further details on the website, this attractive Japanese cha-dansu, or tea-utensil chest from the late Meiji period, c1890s. Prized keyaki (Japanese elm) in the door panels, with kiri wood as the other main show wood, and carcase in sugi. A steel base frame has been made to facilitate a more practical height, but can be removed. The forged, warabite (bracken style) handles and other ironwork adds contrast and character to the patinated timbers. I never tire of Japanese tansu!

Thought I would show another aspect of the serpentine chests, still to be completed, and it is actually a mirror image pair, in satinwood. This is the oval fan/sunburst design for one top, adapted and re-drawn to suit a wider, larger top, from an example attributed to the 18th century English cabinetmaker, Henry Kettle. I was quite taken by the extra movement that the serpentine rays seem to generate. The other top has a reversed image. The veneers used begin with a centre of Thuya burl, then shaded American holly petals, with rays of Maracaibo boxwood, and a scalloped perimeter of Macassar ebony. The rays were dipped in hot sand to achieve the shading effect. I used the "window method" to produce the marquetry oval which was then pressed on the top. It involved cutting each piece out, one at a time, from a drawing on thin card and replacing it with the corresponding veneer (taped on). The substrate or groundwork is plantation(Fijian) mahogany. Weeks of fun!

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