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Display Cabinet for a Chinese Terracotta Horse

Richard Williams was recently awarded the prestigious Claxton Stevens Prize for his stunning display cabinet, which was designed to house a magnificent Chinese terracotta horse dating back to the Tang Dynasty

Richard was commissioned to design and make this cabinet by a client who owns a magnificent Chinese terracotta horse, which dates back to the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD). “For 20 years he had displayed the horse with pride,” says Richard, “but had never found a way of presenting it properly, or in a way that would show it to its best advantage.”

The client asked Richard to create a special cabinet in which to display the horse, and he approached the design with great care, not wanting to upstage the subject in any way. “The piece needed to provide an elegant and understated backdrop, and I also needed to take into consideration practical issues of lighting and humidity control,” he says. “I wanted the cabinet to have an oriental flavour, as well as a lightness about it, which would be achieved by keeping all components to a minimal size and section. I also freely admit to the influence of the gentle ‘Krenovian voice’, that has spoken to my design approach for the last 30 years or so, especially in instances like this where I have been given complete creative freedom by my client.”

Read the full article in Good Woodworking July 2017

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