Pair of Wall-Mounted Teak Bedside Cabinets — H.G. Bradley, Harare, c. 1970s
Floating Bedsides in the Danish Manner
A matched pair of floating bedside cabinets in teak, made in Harare in the 1970s by cabinetmaker H.G. Bradley to a Danish design. They were bought directly from Bradley by their first owners and have remained with the family since.
Designed to hang, not to stand, they are quietly architectural. Each case rises on a canted front, the sides tapering as they climb so the cabinet leans gently back towards the wall. A framed fall-front opens on a brass stay to reveal a shelved interior lined with a fine bookmatched teak panel. A sculpted teak bar pull spans a recess carved into the top rail.
Below, an open bay keeps books and the night’s essentials to hand, and nothing meets the floor. Floating bedsides were a Danish answer to the compact modern bedroom: the floor stays clear beneath them, so the room reads larger and is easier to keep. True pairs are the difficulty with bedsides. These are matched.
Provenance:
Acquired directly from the original owners, Clive and Barbara King, who purchased these pieces from H.G. Bradley in Harare — then Salisbury, Rhodesia — in the 1970s. They knew Mr Bradley well and admired his style and his dedication to perfection.
Bradley's workshop produced high-quality interpretations of Danish Modern designs, deliberately unlabelled so as not to be mistaken for the Danish originals. These pieces carry no manufacturer's labels, and their identification rests on the original owners' first-hand recollection rather than surviving documentation.
