Peter McLean, a cabinet maker of Dumfries, Scotland, arrived in Port Phillip, Australia in February 1853[1] with his family during the gold rush.
Described as a tour de force of precision joinery, wooden inlay and detailed, high-relief carving,[2] McLean's pièce de résistance was a remarkable sideboard, or 'buffet', which has carved scenes depicting the early days of the then Colony of Victoria, including a native chief of the Yarra Yarra tribe and a tableau of Melbourne's founder John Batman with John Buckley.
Whilst he would have been responsible for its overall design, it is probable that the carvings, which have a mix of British and Silesian styles were the work of Felix Terlecki (b1869), a craftsman from the Carlton district of Melbourne.
McL', as the work of a 'major part of half a lifetime',[3] the sideboard was rebuilt and enlarged to include a new arched back inlaid with over 1,000 pieces of mahogany, cedar, blackwood and satinwood in time for the 42nd International Exhibition, held in London in 1873.
[4] The brothers worked together in the firm of McLean Bros & Rigg which specialized in wholesale and retail ironmongery, general hardware and machinery importing,[5] and which is notable as having the first installation, in January 1878, of a regular commercial telephone service in Australia.