Maker unknown, unmarked; a section of a dugout hull, perahu, stood on end
Carved timber, weathered ochre surface
210 cm high, 53.5 cm wide, 35 cm deep; about 25 kg
Cleaned and waxed, the weathered exterior left as found
Old filler and losses to the hull edges; stands plumb and takes weight, wall brace supplied
Every KOBK object is one of one and carries its age honestly. Expect marks, wear and patina as part of the piece; any specific fault is noted above. Where an object is photographed on a stand, the stand is included.
Notes
Indonesia builds boats from single trees and then, when the boat is finished, builds furniture from the boat. The trade is real and it is old: hulls come out of the fishing villages at the end of their working lives, get cut down, and go back out as something to keep books in. This one did its first job on water. The second one it is doing now.
It is a length of hull stood on its end, the wide cut end uppermost, tapering the whole two metres to the floor. The shelves follow the curve because they have to; you cannot square off the inside of a boat. Below them somebody set a pair of doors worked in fine rectilinear lattice, the Chinese fret that has run through Javanese cabinetmaking for two centuries, and a nest of three drawers under that.
It stands plumb and it takes weight. It is also two metres of narrow timber, so it comes with a wall brace, which we would rather you fitted than not.
