Once upon the sale of the business premises, I acquired a large and rather grandiose carved cupboard with four bevelled glass doors. It stands around 6ft 7” high by 7ft 3”. I call it “the Nautical Bookcase” as the carving shows a central galleon in full sail which sits atop a patch of stylized waves. Either side of the boat is a winged caduceus, depicted horizontally. On the right a seated figure watches the boat leave surrounded by packing cases and points to a document he is holding, while on the other side of the boat, a man kneels next to an anchor, flanked by sacks and baskets of produce watching the arrival of the ship through a telescope. A few curly plant shapes finish the design which sits within a low triangle pediment. The doors and surrounds are veneered and set off top and sides by a frame-like moulding and the whole thing sits on a heavy shaped base.
The shelves within are all adjustable, so it is very practical, if heavy. It is a shop fitting, part of a modular system and probably dates from the 1920 to 1930s. We think it is German as the dark wood carving and style of the sculpted relief is similar to other German pieces of furniture. But so far, I have been unable to find out what the carvings allude to, what would have been displayed in the cupboard and where?
The cupboard sat gathering dust on the mezze floor of the warehouse for years, but when everything went to auction, I kept it back. Initially when people asked what I was going to do with such a large piece of furniture I replied:” I am going to live inside it.” I wasn’t entirely joking. As a child I devoured books, re-reading my favourites and being completely immersed in other worlds of imagination. Then, in my twenties and thirties my books were all stored in boxes while I moved again and again. I used to design travelling bookshelves in my head. I suppose a bookshelf became a sort of symbol of a settled life. When I told people I was going to move into the bookcase, I really meant that I want to rediscover that safe and exciting world I used to inhabit as a child, reading in a quiet room. Just as the wardrobe in C.S. Lewis’s books acts as a portal between the present and the magical world of Narnia, I imagine my bookcase with its mysterious carvings transporting me to another world entirely.
The End