Ball and Claw style of furniture dates primarily from the Edwardian period (1900 to 1910) when it was very popular. The style has been copied by subsequent furniture makers in many countries and modernized to suit more recent applications. Hence we can find Ball and claw tables, chairs, wardrobes, radiograms, liquor cabinets, desks, display cabinets and others made in the ball and claw styling with linenfold panels, curved lines and so on. The primary attribute of most of these items is that fine craftsmanship is required to make these pieces and the joinery is therefore mostly excellent. Because of the time required to manufacture this style of furniture, they were typically made from a high grade of timber to justify the effort. In South Africa, imbuia was often used but prior to it being available, Stinkwood pieces were the norm. Hence any purchase of a well-made ball and claw item will generally be extremely well made from a decent timber thus ensuring a long life expectancy and a hard wearing functional piece of furniture.  

With the trend to lighter coloured furnishings, we have refurbished many of these pieces by painting them with a quality paint finish and then rubbing the high spots back to bring out the detail and create a kind of  "shabby chic" look to better suit current trends. These pieces represent the finest joinery examples ever produced in South Africa.

As these pieces are restored items, our stock is continuously changing so it is advisable to come into the showroom and see which pieces are currently available.