A carved Australian blackwood panel of two kookaburras by Robert Prenzel, signed and dated 1922, the rectangular panel carved in deep relief with two kookaburras perched on a eucalyptus branch with nuts to its end, the panel ground with a fine cross-hatched texture and stained brown-black, with its original rustic banksia wood frame applied to the edges of the panel, incised signature and date 'R. Prenzel. 1922' lower right, the reverse of the panel stamped 'Robt Prenzel, Toorak Road, south Yarra European Labour Only.', 54 x 70 cm. Provenance: acquired directly from Robert Prenzel in the 1920s by Gordon Gidney, Melbourne, thence by descent to the late John Gidney Pennell
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- 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.
- Rustic - Rustic is defined as "of, relating to, or typical of country life or country people", and the items illustrated in this price guide accord with that definition.
But in the 18th and 19th century "rustic furniture" had a narrower definition. It referred to furniture where the framework was carved or moulded to resemble tree trunks and branches, and was usually for outdoor use. Rustic furniture was made in cast iron, wood, terracootta and concrete. Much of the Coalbrookdale company's cast iron furniture was of rustic design.
- Incised - A record of a name, date or inscription, or a decoration scratched into a surface, usually of a glass or ceramic item with a blunt instrument to make a coarse indentation. Compare with engraving where the surface is cut with a sharp instrument such as a metal needle or rotating tool to achieve a fine indentation.
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