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Lot Essay
This desk was presented to the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester by the Right Honourable Earle Page, M.P. as a wedding gift on behalf of the Commonwealth Government of Australia and is documented in a contemporary newspaper article to have cost 'about £100'. Following his marriage to Lady Alice Montagu-Douglas-Scott on November 6th 1935, the Duke served as the eleventh Governor-General of Australia from 1945-1947.
Goldman Manufacturing Co., 394 LaTrobe Street, Central Melbourne was located at this address from 1913-1927 when it moved to South Yarra. Goldman's specialised in custom-made, high quality furniture and won several gold medals at international exhibitions in the first quarter of the century.
Robert Prenzel's ledger lists work done for Goldman Ltd., however the ledger is incomplete and only lists work completed between 1917-1925 with only a few mentions of Prenzel's work in the 1930's. The gum nuts and foliage are typical of Prenzel's use of Australian motifs.
Robert Wilhelm Prenzel (1866-1941), woodcarver and cabinetmaker was born on 30th March 1866 at Kittliztreben, Prussia. After completing a four-year apprenticeship in woodcarving and further study and travel in Europe he arrived in Melbourne on 24th November 1888. He married Mina Schelling in 1890 and had three children.
The specimen woods used in the construction of this desk are specific to the Australian states as indicated by the map of Australia in the central drawer. The timbers are noted in a blue print (now in the Australian National Archives) presented with the desk and relate to the states as follows:
Blackwood (Accacia Melanoxylon) Victoria
Walnut (Cryptocarya Palmerstoni) Queensland
Maple (Flindersia Ghatawalana) Queensland
Jarrah (Eucalyptus Marginata) West Australia
Tulipwood (Narpullia Pendula) New South Wales
Goldman Manufacturing Co., 394 LaTrobe Street, Central Melbourne was located at this address from 1913-1927 when it moved to South Yarra. Goldman's specialised in custom-made, high quality furniture and won several gold medals at international exhibitions in the first quarter of the century.
Robert Prenzel's ledger lists work done for Goldman Ltd., however the ledger is incomplete and only lists work completed between 1917-1925 with only a few mentions of Prenzel's work in the 1930's. The gum nuts and foliage are typical of Prenzel's use of Australian motifs.
Robert Wilhelm Prenzel (1866-1941), woodcarver and cabinetmaker was born on 30th March 1866 at Kittliztreben, Prussia. After completing a four-year apprenticeship in woodcarving and further study and travel in Europe he arrived in Melbourne on 24th November 1888. He married Mina Schelling in 1890 and had three children.
The specimen woods used in the construction of this desk are specific to the Australian states as indicated by the map of Australia in the central drawer. The timbers are noted in a blue print (now in the Australian National Archives) presented with the desk and relate to the states as follows:
Blackwood (Accacia Melanoxylon) Victoria
Walnut (Cryptocarya Palmerstoni) Queensland
Maple (Flindersia Ghatawalana) Queensland
Jarrah (Eucalyptus Marginata) West Australia
Tulipwood (Narpullia Pendula) New South Wales