Glorious Gladys - utility sideboard
I was given this oak and plywood sideboard from a house only a few streets from mine and it had been languishing in a garage for a number of years.
Structurally sound, this simply styled sideboard with wooden knobs had all the haulmarks of utility furniture made during the the second world war and a little more searching brought me to the Utility mark itself to confirm my suspicions!
Utility furniture was furniture produced in the UK during and directly after World War II. The furniture was produced under a Government scheme which was designed to cope with raw material shortages and rationing of their usage. Introduced in 1942, the Utility Furniture Scheme continued into post-war austerity.
New furniture was rationed and was restricted to newlyweds and people who had been bombed, and manufacturers had to use preprescribed furniture designs from an official catalogue.
The same logo was used for Utility Furniture as for the Utility clothing scheme: two stylised capital 'C's, for "Controlled Commodity" which soon became known as "The Two Cheeses".
The aim was to ensure the production of strong, well-designed furniture which made efficient use of timber. The Arts and Crafts movement influenced the designs, which were considered to be simplistic due to their lack of decoration (which was contrary to popular taste of the immediate pre-war period).
The devil is in the detail:
As usual, I always spend a lot of time in preparation, taking the furniture to pieces, sanding to create a key and then using Zinsser sealer and primer. It’s a hard primer to work with but it ensures that there is no bleed through from the wood as can sometimes be the case and it leaves a smooth finish for the paint to adhere to.
Quite often at this stage I change my mind about what I’m going to do with the finish in terms of colour etc because the piece becomes a blank sheet of paper.
But not this time……..
I knew all along that I was going to choose a mid-century colour. One that would suite the somber austerity into which this furniture was borne.
Bancha by Farrow & Ball fits the bill but is also a sophisticated green which is on-trend right now. I always do 3 coats so that I can be sure of a tough and durable finish. I mixed Bancha with white for the inside of the sideboard so that the soft green was tonally correct.
I also knew that I was going to call this piece ‘Glorious Gladys’ in her reimagined former glory and I wanted to poke fun at her utility lifestyle….. to allow her to shine.
The lip around the top of Gladys just begged to hold something so I added the shine in a literal sense….. pure copper leaf shine!
The image opposite shows the masking of the area and the seize applied to take the copper leaf.
The copper leaf comes in squares which must be placed accurately. By working the copper leaf into the seize with a very soft brush, in this case my daughters make up brush, it is possible to brush in the edges so that the complete surface becomes one.
I also copper leafed the rim around the base of the sideboard which makes Gladys look like she is levitating!
Most importantly, I have applied 2 coats of lacquer over the copper leaf to make a hard, durable finish which will protect the leaf from natural wear and tear.
Here is Glorious Gladys in her reimagined former glory. Still utilitarian to the end but somewhat glamorous with it.
The V&A have the same sideboard in their archive which was made by Heals. I did consider not reimagining but then again I thought it was better for Gladys to have a new lease of life and to fit in with a contemporary home and contemporary lifestyle.
Glorious Gladys is a glamourous and useful sideboard that would fit in to a any dining environment, hallway or open-plan living.
Dimensions: 86cm h x 122cm w x 50cm d
Please get in touch if you’d like more information or if you’d like to view.
