Vintage Art Deco bar cabinet by Jindrich Halabala for UP Zavody, Czechoslovakia 1930s

This Art Deco Drinks Cabinet was designed in the 1930’s by Czech Architect Jindřich Halabala. It was instantly a popular piece and remained in production of the UP Brno furniture factory in former Czechoslovakia until the late 1950’s. These days, Jindrich Halabala is mainly known as the designer of the H-269 armchair but his work was very varied. As the Art Director of UP Brno, he was responsible for the excellent design of different types of furniture and homeware. For example flower holders, stools, chairs, armchairs, sofas, beds, tables, cabinets, wardrobes and drinks cabinets. What is also interesting about Halabala’s work is that he designed most of the furniture in a very "strict” modernist style using quality materials and purist forms, but he was also responsible for the pieces designed in a more decorative Art Deco style. The most famous examples of this being the Buffet J- 105 cabinet and other cabinets from a serie of furniture marked as J. This elegant wooden bar cabinet with two black curved feet is one of the Art Deco pieces of the J series. It was nicknamed the “cradle” for its likeness to a child’s cradle. A somewhat humourous attempt by Halabala to design the drinks cabinet in a familiar shape to the furniture used for our loved one’s sleep. The main frame is made of walnut veneer with a single glass plate on the top. The bar has two sliding glass doors and four mirror panels on the bottom section. Under the main body is a sliding wooden curved shelve divided into three sections.