Filing Cabinets

By definition, filing cabinets were born from the massive growth of the industrial revolution. As demand for industrially produced goods exploded, factories all over the world expanded at an extraordinary rate and alongside that came the support administration, every office needed storage, and many iconic producers entered the market. The heyday was the thirties when offices were so well made, an integral part of marketing the success of a business to their clients. Our favourite maker of the period is Strafor, Forges de Strasbourg.

We recently divided up our website categories to make it easier to shop:

Shop fit & Haberdashery

As retailers these pieces just have an fascination for us and we usually carry a large selection. Often the classic glass cabinets and taller drawer units are referred to as haberdashery cabinets, but they were also widely used by tailors and clothing merchants. Beautifully made and often carrying a makers mark they are incredibly practical and unique pieces of history. The iconic maker is Pollards but there are so many more.

Banks of Drawers

Most of the really large-scale banks of drawers either come from old shop fittings or workshops and often the most sought after are the smaller drawer apothecary cabinets that were used to store herbs and ingredients for chemists. Banks of drawers from shop fits tend to be higher quality in their construction, slightly more refined, and usually made by professional cabinetmakers. Workshop drawers in contrast were usually made by the owners or workshop staff and although they are often less polished, they are often made with beautiful timbers simply because the workshop often had timber more readily available. We love the scale of these pieces, the history that they carry and often the amazing handles and drawer name tags that give a historical clue about their use.

Lockers

The holy grail is the French maker Strafor, the brand of the Forges de Strasbourg. Strafor was one of the largest makers of sheet metal lockers, their heyday was in the 20’s and 30’s. Lockers were an essential item in all workshops, factories and even offices as they were used to securely store workers personal belongings.

Cabinets & Shelving

Whilst we have a weakness for larger scale storage, we usually carry a good selection of mid century smaller scale cabinets and shelving.

As champion of the forgotten maker our chairs come with a history and provenance and many of the makers have rich stories of their industrial past. Storage has to be practical so our workshop makes sure that all drawers run smoothly and that all of our pieces are practical.