The Hannah Cabinet

The post below was uploaded to the AnArt4Life blog back in 2020. I am reposting it today in recognition of the remarkable work of art created by Geoff Hannah OAM.

You will all have heard of the devasting floods suffered throughout New South Wales and Queensland in recent weeks. The loss of human lives, livihoods and property is huge and our hearts go out to those who have been impacted.

The Lismore Gallery in New South Wales is one of the buildings badly affected by the floods and sadly many works of art have been lost or are seriously damaged.

The Hannah Cabinet has been badly damaged which is devasting news for Geoff, the gallery staff and locals who raised the money to give it a permanent home in Lismore. We wish everyone the best and hopefully this magnificant work of art can be restored and be central to the opening when the Lismore Gallery is once again open to the public.

After visiting the Bungendore Wood Works Gallery with Jane and meeting up with my friend and subscriber Trevor of Canberra I learnt about The Hannah Cabinet - the most glorious piece of furniture you could possibly imagine.

The Cabinet was made over 6 years by Geoffrey Hannah OAM who was born and raised in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia.

Geoffrey Hannah OAM (hannahcabinet.com)

Geoffrey Hannah started his own furniture business in 1973. On receiving a Churchill Fellowship in 1980 he travelled to France and England and studied furniture at the Palace of Versailles, the Louvre in Paris and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Apart from being a gifted master craftsman Geoff is a renowned teacher of his craft having taught aspiring woodworkers from Longreach to Launceston and Muckadilla to Perth….not forgetting that he continues to conduct classes in Lismore.1

The cabinet is made up of 18 beautifully decorated doors, 140 crafted drawers and has hidden drawers within drawers.

Credit: abc.net.au 

The marquetry inlays of flora and fauna are all hand drawn, then each individual piece is knife cut from veneer, shaded in hot sand and assembled to form the image. 2

I have a beautiful brochure produced by Geoffrey Hannah to show off the magnificent features of the cabinet created by superb craftsmanship. Here are a few photos I took of the images in the brochure to give you a taste of the brilliance of Geoffrey Hannah.

The Hannah Cabinet (2) 

Please watch these two videos which will take you on a tour through the cabinet and Geoff will tell you his remarkable personal life story and introduce you to the intricacies of his Hannah Cabinet named in honour of his mother, father and brother who gave him the best present of all: a wonderful start in life. He also thanks his wife Rhonda (who was his schooltime sweetheart) who has encouraged and supported him in all his artistic projects.

After nearly 4 years on display at Bungendore Wood Works Gallery, the Hannah Cabinet was finally purchased through a public fund raising campaign, to go on permanent display at the Lismore Regional Gallery in New South Wales, Australia.

When we can travel again, one of the first trips I want to do its to see the Hannah Cabinet in the flesh!!

Footnotes

  1. http://www.hannahcabinet.com/about-geoff-hannah/
  2. The Hannah Cabinet booklet produced by Geoffrey Hannah 25 Jubilee Street, :Lismore, NSW, 2480, Australia.