Object Vintage timber table, rough-sawn jarrah board construction, cut nails throughout.
Acquired: Sunday 29 March 2026
Vendor: G&G Sgro (Sgro family descendants)
A vintage jarrah table with a documented history spanning almost a century. Hand-built from rough-sawn jarrah boards fixed with cut nails to a heavy jarrah frame, it began its working life at the Oceania Trading Exchange — a Fremantle grocery, wine and provedoring business founded in the 1920s by Italian immigrant Cono Sgro, supplying passenger and cargo ships including the Achille Lauro from two-storey limestone premises on Arundel Street. From there the table moved to the Sgro family’s own vineyard cellar on Reservoir Road, Orange Grove, where it spent decades in barrel-rolling service in one of Perth’s earliest wine-producing districts.
Acquired directly from G&G Sgro, descendants of the founding family, in March 2026 — an unbroken chain of ownership from original commercial use to this restoration.
The table itself carries its history forward rather than having it sanded away: alligatored surface patina, a structural crack down the central board, and close to ninety years of working wear, left exactly as found. A new glass top sits over it on brass standoffs — protecting the timber for everyday use as a coffee table, without ever touching or masking the character underneath. Finished off with a brass provenance plaque.
Object Description Dimensions: 1400mm L × 800mm W
Timber species: Jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata), consistent with period Western Australian construction
Construction: Multiple rough-sawn jarrah boards fastened with original cut nails to a heavy jarrah timber frame
Condition at acquisition: Weathered surface patina, alligator crazing, structural cracking to central board, approximately 90 years of working commercial and cellar use
Restoration Undertaken by Beyond the Derrick, Perth, Western Australia, 2026. Conserved and converted to heritage coffee table with floating glass top, brass standoffs and brass provenance plaque.
