Chest of drawers

Collection

MC

Brief description

Oak front, back and top panels with seven drawers and scorched details. Wales & Wales, 2001.

Title

Smudge

Object number (per part)

W.161

Object name (per part)

chest of drawers

Location - controlled (per part)

Offsite Storage

Production person

Wales, Rod
Wales, Alison

Production organisation

Wales & Wales

Production date

2001

Production place

East Sussex

Material

oak

Technique

furniture making
veneered
parquetry
scorched

Physical description

Chest of drawers with an oak front, back and top panels with seven drawers and scorched details.

Dimensions

height: 151.9cm
width: 37.2cm
depth: 37.2cm

Object history note

Prior to its acquisition by the Crafts Council, this object was displayed at the Chelsea Craft Fair, the 'Stripey Drawers' solo show at Geffrye Museum, London (both 2001), the Canon Gallery in Petworth, Sussex (2005), Collect at the Victoria & Albert Museum, with the Grace Barrand Design Center, and at Contemporary Applied Arts (both 2007).

Label

Rooted in the traditions of English furniture – oak, parquet, scorching and solid timber furniture, Rod and Alison Wales’s work also reflects their interest in contemporary architecture, painting and sculpture. Smudge, a chest of drawers, retains its function as a solid piece of furniture. Yet, it is a freestanding structure, a sculptural tower deliberately referring to buildings in New York. The front and back scorched faces appear to be identical but the drawers can be opened from one side only. Smudge, with its graphic elements of oak slats and scorch marks, rooted in English tradition, is influenced by the graphic elements of American* painter, Sean Scully. *note AD 5/10/2015: Sean Scully became an American citizen in 1983, but he was born in Ireland. In the future it is preferable to be referred as 'Irish-born' or 'Irish-born, American based'.