Kōrero: Furniture

Before 1840 missionaries and other permanent settlers often brought pieces of furniture with them to New Zealand or had them imported from colonies such as New South Wales. Transient groups such as sealers and whalers usually made do with simple pieces fabricated from native woods or, in some cases, whalebone. This bedside stand with matching side tables – one with a candle holder – was crafted from the bone of a southern right whale in 1838. Presumably the bedhead was placed against the stand.