Ross Thompson , Myrtle Cabinet (RECYCLED & RESCUED 2023)

Photos:

Tess Kelly

Country:

Australia

I designed this cabinet around the Myrtle timber. I found this Myrtle at the annual yard sale at Curly Pete's sawmill just outside Daylesford back in 2019. It was outside covered in a tarp and tucked out of general view. I decided to take a look and discovered a stack of thick cut (60mm) slabs of timber. After asking Liam what they were, he told me it was Myrtle, cut in Tasmania and dropped off at the mill and not picked up. (I think, but would need to confirm, it was Bern Chandley's father in law who slabbed it but did not know what to do with it next. It was subsequently left at the mill for one of the boys to sell but it sort of got forgotten about). Much of it was rotted or showing signs of rot, but I picked through and salvaged what I could. I took it back to the shed and skipped dressed it to discover the beautiful figure and colour that ran through. Was a terrific find. After a few years, I decided to get some of it cut into veneers so that I could maximise my yield. Chris Vesper helped me do this at his workshop in Eastern Melbourne. I wanted the cabinet to be seamless, so I mitred the four external corners. It looked a bit plain, so I bound the edges in Wenge which gave more definition to the proportion. The tall and thin shape had been in my mind for a while; it really is just a study in proportion in my eyes. I decided to use Huon pine on the internals to continue the homage to beautiful Tasmanian timber. The legs are tapered in opposing directions as it hits the cabinet body, and are loosely based off the art deco furniture designer Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann.

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