Cupboard
- Place of origin:
- Date:
- Artist/Maker:
Waals (designer and maker)
- Materials and Techniques:
Figured walnut, with copper handles and steel locks
- Credit Line:
Bequeathed by Miss C. Jackson
- Museum number:
- Gallery location:
- Image in copyright
Peter van der Waals was born in Holland in 1870 and worked as a foreman for Ernest Grimson at his workshop in Daneway House near Sapperton, Gloucestershire, England. The workshops had been started by Gimson and Sidney and Ernest Barnsleyto produce furniture in the tradition of the Arts and Crafts Movement. This cabinet was inspired by British furniture of the 17th century and demonstrates the continuing strength of the Arts and Crafts tradition in Britain even after World War I. After Gimson’s death in 1919, van der Waals started his own workshop in Chalford, Gloucestershire, producing domestic furniture.
The honest construction of the cabinet, which uses solid wood and has revealed joints, connects Waals to the traditions of the 19th century designers William Morris and A W. N. Pugin. Frank Pick, who commissioned the cabinet, was a life-long admirer of Morris and deeply committed to real links between art and industry. As Commercial Manager, and later Chief Executive of London Transport he was a major patron of modern artists and designers.
Physical description
Cupboard, on a stand which has two legs at each side, attatched by struts, and another curved bridging strut. Cupboard itself has two central opening doors above 3 drawers, 2 short and one long. The front of the carcass is figured with lozenge motifs.
Place of Origin
Chalford, England (made)
Date
1928 (made)
Artist/maker
Waals (designer and maker)
Materials and Techniques
Figured walnut, with copper handles and steel locks
Dimensions
Height: 157.2 cm, Width: 101.5 cm, Depth: 54 cm including handles
Object history note
Object sampling carried out by Jo Darrah, V&A Science; drawer/slide reference 6/14.
Historical context note
Waals, a Dutchman, had worked as a furniture maker at the Daneway Workshops of Ernest Gimson and Sidney and Ernest Barnsley. This monumental cabinet was inspired by furniture of the seventeenth century and demonstrates the continuing strength of the Arts and Crafts tradition in Britain even after the 1914-18 war. The honest construction of the cabinet, which has revealed joints and uses solid wood, connects Waals to the traditions of Morris and Pugin. Frank Pick, who commissioned the cabinet, was a life-long admirer of William Morris, and deeply committed to real links between art and industry. As Commercial Manager, and later Chief Executive of London Transport he was a major patron of modern artists and designers.
Craft furniture of this type represents the purest cabinet-making tradition. Commercial furniture design, however, also looked to the past as confirmation of national identity at a time of great social upheaval and international crisis.
[Gareth Williams, 'British Design at Home', p.110]
Descriptive line
Cupboard, designed and made by Peter Waals, 1928
Exhibition History
Teaspoons To Trains: The Work of Frank Pick (Victoria and Albert Museum 01/01/1979-31/12/1979)
Labels and date
SILVER CUPBOARD
Designed and made by Peter Waals (Dutch, 1870-1938) Chalford, Gloucestershire
Figured walnut
1928
In 1901 Waals (then Van der Waals) answered an advertisement for a foreman cabinet-maker and moved to England to join the short-lived partnership of Ernest Gimson and Ernest Barnsley. Barnsley decided to dedicate himself exclusively to architecture by 1905 and Waals remained in Gimson's shop until the latter's death in 1919. Waals established his own shop in Chalford where he continued to produce Gimson's designs as well as his own.
Bequest of Miss C. Jackson
W.1&a-1942
Materials
Steel; Copper; Walnut; Sweet chestnut
Categories
Furniture
Collection code
FWK
