BLOG

Telling the story of the Good Karma Cabinet, which sold earlier this year:

This mahogany cabinet combines antique curved glass with a thoroughly contemporary design:  all four sides of the cabinet have an irregular natural edge, with the frames for the curved glass nestled within this enclosure.  The geometric regularity of the front elements is fitted to the natural edges in much the same way that a house is fitted to the shape of the landscape.

The curved glass was salvaged from a display cabinet that had been abandoned outdoors.  The second photo shows the remains of the original cabinet, with its symmetrical placement of the two curved windows.  This is a familiar design popular about a hundred years ago, at the height of the Arts & Crafts movement.  The old cabinet had a glass door panel and a back mirror, as well, both of which found their way into the new piece.

The new piece aims for a lighter and dynamic touch, combining a bold modern line with the natural edges, while the wavy imperfections of the old glass provide a series of gentle surprises.

Several design constraints arose from the basic concept of accommodating the old glass pieces in this particular cabinet, and the resulting solutions add a measure of charm to the piece.  For example, finding a way to support the right-front shelf corner led to an interesting threaded-rod solution, just visible in the picture.

So the old glass was reborn in our new cabinet, perhaps by virtue of good karma accrued during its long previous life.