This koa and kou wood center table was made by William Fischer around 1869.  A very similar table was ordered at the time by Governer Dominis.  Dominis was an American-born statesman who became Prince Consort of the Kingdom of Hawai’i upon his marriage to the last reigning monarch, Queen Lili’uokalani.  Using kou wood was an unusual selection for inclusion in the table since “kou was rarely used in furniture, except as contrasting trim with koa, a combination Hawaiian royalty particularly favored.”

A minute ‘red spider’ infested the kou trees beginning around 1860 and within a year destroyed every kou tree in the islands.  The timber was cut and used for furniture, much of it sent to Germany.

The table above was owned by John Strayer McGrew, a physician who arrived in Hawaii in 1866.  “He was known for his hospitality and as “the Father of Annexation” because of his strong conviction that Hawaii should be come part of the United States.”

Research and image courtesy of the Daughters of Hawaii and from their book, Hawaiian Furniture And Hawaii’s Cabinetmakers.

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There’s something about Kilian Brothers pieces that make them some of my favorites.  Their heavy mix of ebonization, polychrome paint (in some cases), heavy use of gilt-incising and Neo-Grec styling is very appealing to me and resulted in me adding one of their pieces to my collection a while back.

Thanks to a Rare Vic reader, John B., I was notified of this attributed Kilian Brothers table currently up for sale on Ebay.  I’ve also learned a new word from within the listing used to describe this piece of furniture  - architectonic.  I would agree based on it’s definition that a lot of Kilian pieces are “architectonic”.  First time I’ve heard that one.

Photo of the inlaid top below.  Listing ends on October 31st and the BIN price is $5,995 - or make an offer.  More at the listing.

Read more on Kilian Brothers.

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I thought I’d share this somewhat unusual Rococo marble-top center table that I recently had the opportunity to purchase, which I didn’t, due to the price being too high for today’s market.  The overall form is a round center table but the edges are scalloped.  The base is a moderate quality Rococo design but what really stands out is the marble itself.  At least 4 different marble patterns and colors were cut and cemented together to form a kaleidoscopic pattern (not sure whether this qualifies as pietre dura, technically speaking).  I was really attracted to the table but was not going to pay what was being asked.  I even asked them if they wanted me to offer it to RareVictorian.com readers to purchase, but they declined, saying that they would only sell to me privately.  Hmmmm… I wasn’t sure what to make of that.

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