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Cafe Australia Dining Chair by Griffin & Mahoney (1916)

A Cafe Australia dining chair, blackwood (Acacia melanoxylon), plywood and leather designed by Marion Mahoney Griffin and Walter Burley Griffin, 1916 being part of the furnishing of the 'Fern Room' in Melbourne's Cafe Australia, located at 268-274 Collins Street Melbourne. Manufactured by and bearing the stamp of H. Goldman Manufacturing Co. Melbourne, blackwood chair having an inverted pylon form back, upholstered to the upper section, the lower section having a circular upholstered seat, supported on splayed tapering square form legs joined by a tray stretcher, 37.80 in. high, 18.50 in. diameter, Literature, Michael Bogle, 'The Cafe Australia', Australiana, Sydney, Vol. 18, No. 4, November 1996, p. 92 (illustrated, another example), Jeff Turnbull and Peter Y. Navaretti (eds), The Griffins in Australia and India: The Complete Works and Projects of Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin, The Miegunyah Press, Melbourne, 1998, p. 136, Anne Watson (ed.), Beyond Architecture: Marion Mahony and Walter Burley Griffin in America, Australia and India, Powerhouse Publishing, Sydney, 1998, pp. 128, 129, 130, (illustrated, another example)

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  • Stretcher - A horizontal rail which connects the legs of stools, chairs, tables and stands, to provide stabilisation of the legs. A stretcher table is any table with a stretcher base. The term is usually applied to substantial farmhouse tables, although many cabinetmaker's pieces, such as sofa tables, also have turned stretchers.
  • Blackwood - One of the best known and most widely used Australian timbers, blackwood (acacia melanoxylon), is a member of the Acacia (wattle) family and grows in eastern Australia from about Adelaide in South Australia, as far north as Cairns in Queensland.

    The largest, straightest and tallest trees come from the wet forest and swamps of north-west Tasmania where it is grown commercially.

    Blackwood timber colours range across a wide spectrum, from a very pale honey colour through to a dark chocolate with streaks of red tinge.

    The hardwood timber has been commonly used in the production of furniture, flooring, and musical instruments in Australia from the late 19th century. However, the straight grain timber is not the most prized or valuable, that honour falls to blackwood with a wavy, fiddleback pattern, which is used both in the solid and as a veneer. Fiddleback was only used on the finest examples of furniture.

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A Cafe Australia dining chair, blackwood (Acacia melanoxylon),…