Morris’s Marquetry Masterpiece — The story of MOTAT’s half-tester bed
By Robyn Entwistle
If you have ever visited the Engineer’s Cottage (2008.24) in MOTAT’s Victorian Village, you will have noticed this rather grand bed on display. It is a very rare piece of furniture, intricately made by a little-known cabinetmaker whose descendants donated the bed to MOTAT in 1967.
A bed, at first glance, may be an unusual object to see in the Museum of Transport and Technology. However, James Morris’ half-tester bed is a significant example of design, imagination and expertise, qualities that are shown by today’s inventors and innovators.
So, what is a half-tester bed?
A full tester bed is essentially a four-poster bed, which originated in fourteenth-century Europe. The word ‘tester’ derives from the Latin word for head — ‘testa’. The original function of a full tester bed was to protect the owner from the cold and to provide privacy. As houses and heating improved over time, a full canopy was no longer needed, and its design gradually became lighter and more decorative. The half tester bed — where the canopy only covers the top half of the bed and uses two posts rather than four — began to be used in fashionable households.
The most well-known New Zealand cabinetmaker of the late nineteenth century was Anton Seuffert (originally from Vienna). He was a professional cabinetmaker who produced luxury furniture for wealthy New Zealand customers. Seuffert was highly successful and internationally recognised for his furniture — which he exhibited at various International Exhibitions.
In contrast, James Morris was most likely an amateur cabinetmaker and worked on a much smaller scale, producing only a few known pieces which were of high quality. This bed in MOTAT’s Engineer’s Cottage is one of a kind. It is also — I believe — the only piece of his held in a public museum. A kauri table and a chiffonier made by Morris feature in William Cottrell’s book, Furniture of the New Zealand Colonial Era but both are privately owned.
Morris and his wife were originally from Dorset, England. He emigrated to Auckland with his family on the ship William Miles which arrived from London in 1862. Morris then worked for John Henderson’s firm of painters, decorators and paper hangers in High Street. He lived in St Mary’s Road, Ponsonby.
Morris’s bed demonstrates his great skill in marquetry, which is the technique of creating inlaid patterns using wood veneer. Marquetry has ancient origins, developing from the many variations of wood inlay techniques from around the world. Marquetry as it is known today was developed by the Dutch and Flemish in the 16th and 17th centuries. During the mid to late 19th century, it experienced a popular resurgence in Britain and its colonies.
Marquetry is a painstaking and time-consuming process. The first step was to design the pattern for the decorative panel. A paper template would then be traced onto a wooden base panel to provide a guide for creating each piece of wood veneer. Each individual piece was cut by hand using a knife or fretsaw, depending on its thickness. Next, the chosen piece was carefully positioned and glued into place on the base panel. It required a high level of concentration and patience. The craftsman would need to select contrasting pieces of wood, varying in colour and grain, to ensure that the complex design was transferred effectively to the finished piece.
Reportedly, Morris worked for two hours every night on the bed and managed to complete it in just two years (1878–1880). It was made from 13,701 pieces of inlaid wood. His nightly process is reminiscent of conservation and restoration procedures at MOTAT — working away at a project, chipping away until it is complete.
Morris’s work on the bed cannot be easily replicated, due to the amount of time needed to create such complicated designs. The sheer amount of originality and meticulous detail is remarkable. It is far more intricate than typical beds of the period. For example, Te Papa has an example of a conventional half tester bed from the 1850s. While it has some carved features, it is much simpler in its design.
Some of the more unique and unusual aspects of Morris’s bed are the decorative trellis, with a vine leaf and flower design which is carved from a single piece of kauri, the heptagonal wooden canopy and the hand-carved wooden chain which secures the curtains.
The semi-circular footboard has a three-dimensional sunburst pattern and geometric border uses trompe l’oeil to great effect. There is also a nod to Morris’s origins and New Zealand’s connection to Britain with the Union Jack flags in the two corners.
According to William Cottrell, Morris’s “strong fascination with extensive pictorial marquetry was not common in the colonial context.” It was generally reserved for specimen tables to showcase the variety and qualities of different New Zealand timber.
The photograph below shows a typical specimen table manufactured during the mid-nineteenth century in New Zealand by Winks & Hall.
In the image below of the New Zealand pavilion at the 1862 International Exhibition in London, you can see an example of a specimen table in the bottom left corner.
Morris has turned an ordinary object into something extraordinary and has created something special which showcases both his ability as a cabinetmaker, and the beauty of New Zealand kauri. By using kauri, a timber native to New Zealand, rather than wood imported from Europe, it can be argued that Morris was demonstrating his commitment to his new country.
By making the bed himself, he could tailor it to his own vision — it was clearly a labour of imagination and love. While the bed is a valuable part of MOTAT’s collection, it is also a significant part of Auckland’s cabinetmaking history.
References
- Auckland Historical Society Inc, 1965. Journal of the Auckland Historical Society, April 1965.
- Cottrell, William. 2006. Furniture of the New Zealand Colonial Era: An Illustrated History, 1830–1900, Auckland: Reed Books.
- Cresswell, John. 1976. MOTAT: Museum of Transport and Technology of New Zealand (Inc.), Auckland: Paul Hamlyn.
- Judd, Warren. 1990. “Seuffert & Son”, New Zealand Geographic, Issue Number 6, April — June 1990.
- Kirkham, Pat. 1980. “Inlay, Marquetry and Buhl Workers in England c. 1660–1850”, The Burlington Magazine, Jun. 1980, Vol. 122, №927.
- Ward, Gerald W. R., ed. 2008. The Grove Encyclopedia of Materials and Techniques in Art, New York: Oxford University Press.
