JAPANESE INSPIRED HIGH TEA AND SAKE CABINET
This remarkable piece began with a client’s vision: they wanted something truly special that would serve both their needs. She wanted a cabinet to host elegant high tea gatherings and for him it was to be a bar for serving sake to his friends. What followed was one of the most ambitious and complex creations we've ever taken on - a true opus that took over two years to bring to life.
Crafted from Japanese Sen timber and veneer, the cabinet features exquisite panels of soft cream English vellum. These are hand-painted with delicate cherry blossom flowers, leaves and stems, which gracefully extend across the vellum and flow onto the surrounding timber, a gentle nod to the fleeting beauty of sakura.
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At the heart of the cabinet is a centre section that truly comes to life. The tilt-up countertop opens back ninety-two degrees, just past vertical, and reveals an intricately detailed marble servery that rises smoothly with the touch of a remote. A hand-carved glass back wall glows softly with LED lighting, depicting a breathtaking scene of snow-capped Mt Fuji in the distance and a serene temple garden with a bridge in the foreground. Framing this view are temple-inspired carved timber structures that pay homage to traditional Japanese joinery.
The side sections of the piece are fixed cabinets that serve as elegant storage for crockery. There is also a unique hand-carved and cast bronze plate stand with three separate adjustable position holders for plates …. perfect for an elegant, layered presentation of cakes or sandwiches.
At each end, curved doors swing out gracefully on bespoke, engineered hinges. Inside, you'll find more beautifully lit, custom-designed storage for specialty crockery.
To the front right, another door opens to reveal a purpose-built refrigerated section. Inside is a fitted drawer, a masterpiece of Japanese inspired joinery, intricately designed to store bottles of sake and bespoke glassware. Even the cooling is exceptional, delivered via a pair of military-grade, Canadian-designed Peltier liquid-to-air coolers.
On the left-hand side, a pull-out cabinet mirrors the temple-inspired detail and provides a refined storage space for teapots and jugs.
The entire piece is finished in a hand-applied satin lacquer, giving it a soft, glowing presence that invites touch and admiration.
Dimensions: Length 210cm Depth 55cm Height 88cm (closed) 140cm (open)
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As the High Tea Cabinet came to life, it needed a companion, something ethereal to float above it, to echo its story and extend its presence into the room. That’s how this very unique piece came to be. Not just a lighting installation, but a sculptural artwork in its own right.
We imagined it as a delicate, poetic, and distinctly Japanese lighting installation. Five handcrafted umbrellas, made from painted vellum and pale European Ash, form the centrepiece. Each one is crowned with a hand-beaten bronze centre hub, giving the umbrellas a quiet sense of history and strength - like something that might have drifted down from the ceiling of a Kyoto tea house.
These umbrellas aren’t just placed- they appear to grow from a single, sweeping branch. Hand-carved from bleached cherrywood, the branch stretches gently across the space. Illumination comes from bespoke resin-filled RGB lighting units, each one individually cast and set within the umbrella centres. Controlled remotely, the light can shift in colour and tone—gentle and atmospheric, like the changing light of day through paper screens.
And then, to finish, three handmade Australian cotton rope tassels hang in soft arcs, tipped with bronzed detail.
Together, it becomes more than illumination. It’s a delightful extension of the Sakura Cabinet’s story. An overhead bloom of light, memory, and movement..
