家具：傳奇的
舒利姆•科瑞姆珀（Schulim Krimper）
佚名
ANONYMOUS
FURNITURE
The legendary Schulim Krimper
THE OWNER OF this extraordinary collection of furniture by furniture maker Schulim Krimper has filled their entire home with the designer’s pieces. In every room there are sideboards, dining tables, chairs, coffee tables or cabinetry. There’s even built-in joinery by Krimper, designed for the owner’s parents.
If you look under tables or protective cloths, you’ll find more Krimper, who made his impact on the Melbourne design scene from the 1940s through to the 1960s. Originally from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Krimper designed entire interiors for his Melbourne clientele shortly after he arrived in 1939.
The owner recalls how Krimper would arrive in his dustcoat and take extensive details about what was needed. ‘He wore gloves, particularly when a certain built-in unit would arrive. And doorways were always extremely well protected,’ says the owner, who started collecting Krimper furniture from the mid-1950s.
Some of the furniture, such as the six-seater lounge suite in the formal dining area and the lamp beside it, belonged to the owner’s parents. But these whetted the owner’s appetite to collect their own Krimper pieces. In most of the rooms there are dining tables and chairs created by the maker. For example, in the kitchen there are two full dining suites. Buffets, one of the owner’s favourite furniture types, can be found in almost every room, including the bedrooms.
‘Buffets show Krimper’s immense talent for joinery,’ says the owner, pointing out the drawers with a dovetail-end and the fine brass rods used to strengthen some of the heavier cupboard doors.
The owner’s first Krimper purchases were a 1960s bookcase made from Queensland walnut and a daybed from the same period. ‘There’s no French polishing. Krimper used to wax his furniture. It feels like velvet.’ Then there are the more unusual pieces, such as a 1960s cocktail cabinet. One of the rarest pieces in the collection is a unit custom-designed for the first television set. ‘Krimper had an exhibition in New York and I had this sent over.’
Difficult to pigeon-hole, the owner describes Krimper’s style as a fusion of various influences, from Biedermeier to folk-like. ‘It’s quite organic in feel, but it always celebrates the timber, whether it’s Queensland walnut or teak.’ The depth and breadth of Krimper’s designs are also impressive. There are tea trolleys, glory boxes, bedheads and even fine timber bowls and utensils that came as part of a buffet. Some of the pieces recall another time. With the advent of the mobile phone, Krimper’s telephone table now seems an oddity.
Other Krimper designs show a fascination for the East. Some of the sideboards and bedheads are inspired by Japanese pergolas.
Other pieces feature fine parquetry tops and concealed nooks. But irrespective of the item, they all show a highly developed talent and understanding of engineering, allowing even the heaviest drawers to slide with great ease.
Although having hundreds of Krimper items, the owner hasn’t slowed down their desire to collect more. People hear about this collection through word of mouth, and rather than pass on their Krimper to a dealer, they contact this owner to see if they’re interested. Some pieces are also found at auctions or in stores. However, the owner can see straight away whether a piece is highly collectable. There’s a rare chess table in the billiard room or the highly desirable office desk and chair in the main bedroom – with its chunky glass table top.
While each of the Krimper pieces are treasured, so are the memories of meeting the designer and seeing him deliver pieces to the family home. ‘Sometimes he would meet with a client, take down all the details and go away. You wouldn’t hear from him for two years and there’d be a phone call announcing it was ready,’ says the owner. ‘It was never what you had expected, well beyond your expectations.’
