Cupboard with stand, painted plywood, designed by Max Clendinning, made by Liberty's, UK, 1965.

Painted plywood cupboard with stand

The cupboard was part of a range of furniture designs commissioned by Liberty and manufactured in 1965. This included this cabinet, a dining table and chairs, a coffee table and lounge chair. The furniture was made of plywood, painted in a limited range of colours – white, red and black—and the chairs were originally upholstered in tweed.
This cupboard was owned by the designer himself since 1965 and was placed together with other furniture of this range in the living room until it came to the V&A. The cupboard was originally red but was painted grey by Ralph Adron (Clendinning's partner) in 1969 to sit within an orange, grey and pink decorative scheme created for the dining room at Alwyne Road. The cabinet appears in situ in several articles both before 1969, when it was red, as well as after, when it was painted grey.
This is the only known example of the Liberty's cupboard to date, though more were certainly made.

Cabinet was part of a range of furniture designs commissioned and manufactured by Liberty.

W.19:1, 2-2011