Oak Parquetry Cabinet

Oak Parquetry Cabinet (1997)

White oak carcase and stand, Mendocino cypress interior.
52-1/2" (H) x 25" (W) x 14-3/4" (D)

This is Krenov’s “Oak Parquetry Cabinet,” built in the back room of the College of the Redwoods workshop in 1997.

Though Krenov’s body of work often defies an organization into “periods,” this piece came during a string of cabinets in the mid-1990s that all played with parquetry, a patterned arrangement of veneers. Here, Krenov used a particularly wild-grained plank of white oak, sawn into veneers, to make a painterly cabinet exterior.

The interior is broken into small shelves and drawers by a series of dividers, a signature of Krenov’s cabinets that allowed his work to complement a collection of fine things. The stand is particularly rectilinear for Krenov, and betrays his roots in the Arts & Crafts style, which he inherited by way of his teacher, Carl Malmsten, who himself had visited the Barnsleys and Gimson in England in the early 20th century.