Record Cabinet in Imbuia by EE Meyer for Binnehuis, South Africa, 1970s
A record and hi-fi cabinet by EE Meyer for Binnehuis, its front carried by a single sculpted lip pull running the width of the lower door. The flip-top lid lifts on a brass stay to reveal the upper compartment, where four circular apertures in the back panel — for cabling and ventilation — show the piece was built to house a turntable and amplifier.
Below, two drop-down fronts: the upper folds flat on a full-width brass piano hinge to form a working surface, and the lower opens on brass stays to a bank of slotted bays for LPs beside an open compartment. Figured imbuia burr veneer to the sides, solid imbuia throughout the frame, set on tapered legs.
EE Meyer, directed by Gerhardt Meyer from 1966, is South Africa's most collectible mid-century furniture maker: informed by the Danish modernists, but working in a language entirely its own.
EE Meyer for Binnehuis
A true treasure that encapsulates the essence of South Africa's most sought-after mid-century furniture manufacturer. With a legacy rooted in timeless craftsmanship and iconic design, EE Meyer creations have become highly sought after. Owning an EE Meyer piece means not only acquiring a beautiful work of art but also preserving a valuable piece of South African design history.
EE Meyer was directed by Gerhardt Meyer from 1966, Meyer was the South African master of understated mid-century elegance, and his designs became synonymous with a distinctly South African interpretation of modernist furniture: sober, clean, and generous in their use of solid imbuia.
Imbuia — is a hardwood native to the forests of southern Brazil and historically used extensively in South African cabinetmaking. Deeply figured, warm in tone, and extraordinarily durable, it is the material that defines the EE Meyer aesthetic.
The Binnehuis furniture stores were located in Cape Town, Stellenbosch Somerset-West, Newlands, Port Elizabeth and Johannesburg and were owned by a Dutch businessman and his wife, Mr and Mrs van Ewijck, who moved between South Africa and the Netherlands. It seems they were most prolific during the 1960s.
EE Meyer for Binnehuis pieces are among the most collectible examples of South African mid-century design.
Imbuia is classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. Vintage pieces from before 1992 are legally permitted for sale.
