Unfinished antiques.
Intriguing isn’t it? But that’s what they are, antiques bought from different places but kept just like they are to enable the discerning collector to indicate what kind of finish they would like.
These unfinished antiques take up an entire floor of the Design Centre of Raux Brothers at Piliyandala, now well-known for their handcrafted and custom-made furniture, who celebrated their 50th anniversary on June 25.
The 65,000 sq.ft., four-floor Design Centre at Piliyandala houses their workshop and beautifully and intricately-carved furniture, arranged as if in a house.
“It’s a niche market because there’s a certain amount of passion that goes into designing this furniture,” says Managing Director Graham Raux who is very much on the work floor. The main aim of the Design Centre is to allow customers to see the furniture as if in their own home.
Recalling the beginnings of Raux Brothers, he says they started as a company that restored and sold antiques. As time went by, they moved their focus to manufacturing furniture, in the olden style, recycling rafters from old buildings.
“This is the extent the company went to, to give our products that ‘old look’,” adds Directress Kalani Raux.
Dealing with the “unfinished antiques”, Graham explains that they keep the pieces like that to enable the clients to tell them how they would like the finish to be. “Some people take it as it is, some people take it sandpapered,” he says.Alongside the antiques is a storehouse full of rafters about a hundred years old, from old houses. Busy at work were some of the 80 people who make the furniture a reality, pulling out the nails, to allow the rafters to be recycled as masterpieces, mainly for export. “It is very difficult to work with old wood because it’s dry and hard,” says Graham, adding that he has kept the workforce small to be able to self-manage the business.
The customer can come in with a design from a magazine or a sketch and Raux Brothers will draw a real-life model. Fabrics are imported to make more design possibilities available to the customer. The skills of the craftsmen, the designs and the materials used enhance the value of the product, it is understood.
Raux Brothers not only work with clients but also architects and interior designers to make the required designs. They also have four ready-made or pre-designed collections named ‘Heritage’, ‘Masters’, ‘Eternal’ and ‘Elements’.
Representing “old Sri Lanka”, the Heritage collection comprises designs replicated from the British, Dutch and Portuguese periods, while the Masters collection is adapted from contemporary furniture.
Eternal incorporates all other furniture designs and Elements, the additions such as carvings, lamps, ornaments and mirrors which enhance the furniture. The company deals with hardwood timber like kumbuk, mara, jak and teak. Opening their showroom at No. 7, De Fonseka Road, Colombo 5 in 1998, when they only had their Heritage collection, they have now expanded to include the other collctions and also their Design Centre.
“The trend is changing,” adds Graham, “People buy two or three antique pieces and for the rest they prefer contemporary furniture.” |
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