Schulim Krimper's Maas Cabaret Counter and Porcelain

Schulim Krimper (1893 - 1971) The cloakroom counter commissioned for the Maas Caberet in High Street, St. Kilda, circa 1955. 37.80 in. high, 66.93 in. wide, 18.11 in. deep. (together with a small range of Maas Cabaret branded porcelain). When post-war Austrian-Jewish immigrant, Robert Maas and his wife decided they were going to open a cabaret in Melbourne, they decided to convert their Victory Cafe, in High Street, St. Kilda, into the nightclub of their dreams. How fortunate, that just two doors away, in High Street, their neighbour was Schulim Krimper. All the furniture for the Maas Cabaret was commissioned from Krimper. [A single chair was sold at auction in Melbourne in June 2020 for $1950.]. Krimper's work for commercial clients is rarely seen. Krimper had been born in Bukovina, in Austro-Hungary, youngest of five children of Rabbi Jacob Wolf Neutuch. Orphaned at the age of 9, Schulim lived with his eldest married sister for three years before being apprenticed to a local cabinet-maker. He completed his articles and remained with his master until the outbreak of World War I, in which he served with the Austro-Hungarian artillery. After the war Krimper travelled through central Europe, working in Prague and Vienna. In the early 1920s he settled in Berlin. As a Jew, he suffered during the rise to power of Hitler and the National Socialists and was thwarted in his plans to set up his own business. He was married in 1938 in Berlin and by August of that year, was employed in the joinery of a training centre for Jews who wished to emigrate. In November 1938 the Krimpers were granted permission to emigrate to Australia. En route they spent six months in England where Schulim helped to supervise the building of a refugee camp. They arrived in Melbourne on 17 August 1939. Krimper was naturalized in 1945. During the 1950s and 1960s Krimper was Melbourne's premier supplier of custom-made furniture in the modern style. His ability to reveal the beauties of his timbers was legendary, as was the finesse of construction of his furniture. His artistry was first acknowledged when the National gallery of Victoria acquired two of his cabinets in 1948. Thereafter there was An important exhibition at Georges Gallery in 1951 and another at the Rockefeller Centre, New York, in 1956. A retrospective exhibition followed at the N.G.V. in 1959 and a memorial exhibition in 1975. His work is also represented in the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, the art galleries of Queensland and South Australia, and the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney. provenance: Henry Maas, hat-check boy at the Maas cabaret, founding member and lead singer of 'The Bachelor's From Prague' jazz band, creator of the iconic 'Black Cat Cafe' in Brunswick Street, and visual artist.