Harebell Vintage Co. has a limited stock of rare Edwardian marquetry panels, salvaged from the closure of a furniture factory in 1914/15. We sell them framed or ready to frame yourself.
At first glance, these panels appear to be painted wood, but each part of the design is a delicate piece of veneer cut from stained wood. Please view our image gallery to see the fantastic range of stunning designs we have available – many of them one-off pieces.
Every harebell in the above design has been cut from stained boxwood and inserted into the mahogany panel, as have all the sections of ribbon.
The provenance of the marquetry panels
Our veneers are part of a small collection of Edwardian furniture marquetry originally intended for quality bedroom furniture, circa 1910/15. (There are chalk marks labelling wardrobe and bed panels on some of the pieces.)
Like so many factories at the outbreak of World War I, this London furniture factory halted production and was required to make aeroplane parts for the war effort. Most of the stock was destroyed but a bundle of veneers was rescued by one of the cabinet makers, and kept in storage for over a century until recently passed to us by a family member – who supplied us with the above information.
The newspaper backings, which date from 1908-1912, give fascinating snippets of Edwardian life and are almost as interesting as the veneers themselves. Consequently we have tried to preserve these where possible, and are selling many pieces unmounted for the buyer to see both sides. This enables us to say with confidence that our panels were made around, or prior to, the outbreak of the First World War.
As very few veneers survive in this form, our collection is extremely rare. High quality and intricately crafted marquetry panels such as these are examples of British craftsmanship at its best, and make interesting and beautiful additions to any home.
We took the veneers to the Antiques Roadshow. This photograph shows us being filmed as furniture expert Lennox Cato tells us more about them. Sadly this didn’t get aired.
Rare Edwardian marquetry veneers 