Serena Bar Cabinet

Serena Pulitzer Lederer was part of Viennese high society around the turn of the 19th century. Her husband, industrialist August Lederer, commissioned this portrait of her, which artist Gustav Klimt painted in 1899.

Looking at the tall and elegant Serena Bar Cabinet that drew on the portrait for inspiration, it’s easy to see the connection between the shapes in the painting and the piece of furniture. Amazingly, the rounded form of the cabinet is one continuous piece of wood, and the translucent nature of the woman’s gown is reflected in the sandblasted glass of the cabinet doors.

But there is more at play in the symbolism of the piece. Hershberger explains the bottom of the cabinet is wavy and tight before loosening as it moves upward, communicating the progression through life and faith and how who we are and where we are going becomes easier to see.

“Keep growing in wisdom, go deeper into spirit, and, as you get older, the picture will get clearer and clearer,” Hershberger says. “Be satisfied with who you are. You can’t be somebody else. We can improve, but you can’t be somebody else. Be comfortable with how God created you and do the best that you can.”

The Duet Nesting Tables give the feeling of connection present in Edouard Manet’s 1874 painting “The Monet Family in their Garden in Argenteuil.”

During the summer of that year, Manet vacationed at his family’s house in Gennevilliers, France, which sat across the river from that of Claude Monet and his family.

Hershberger says the large table represents the father and the smaller table the mother, while the legs represent children. The platinum and 24-karat gold used in the piece reflect the preciousness of that bond. One of the most striking features is how the metals are inlaid in the grain of the wood, which shines when light interplays with it.

“I walked down and looked at it, I said, ‘Perfect,’ ” Hershberger recalls. “From a spiritual side, if we stand in the light in Christ, we shine and glisten and we’re a light. [The piece] represents both sides. If you stand in the light, you see the glisten. If you stand in the dark, you see the darkness of it.”