About Nick
Family
My grandfather moved from Poland to the UK shortly after the turn of the century and established a wholesale fur business, that being the only trade he knew. Legend has it that the Dattner family were all in the fur trade as far back as the Hudsons Bay Company. So too with my father, who came to Australia from England just after WWII and established a fur business, but as a garment manufacturer.
I worked in my dad's business for four or five years but it didn't suit me, I wanted to use my hands and I had a dream - I wanted to build my own house out of mud bricks (adobe), which I did!
My younger sister Fabian, having sworn that she would never go into the family business, eventually did so. Time passed and in 1990 Stephen Dattner furs and the fur dynasty came to an end.
I have two daughters, two grand daughters and one grandson. My daughters names are Defah (a made up name) and Zoe. My father died in 1986 but my mum is still very much alive, I have an older brother, Simon.
Work
My first job was as an apprentice cinematographer. My father had a slight connection to the film business, having had a role in an ill-fated movie made in the sixties. He also had a somewhat romantic connection to The Third Man, the famous film based on a Graeme Green story about the war-time penicillin racket in Vienna. The part of the British intelligence officer, played in that film by Trevor Howard, was based on the role my father played in real life occupied Vienna.
When mum and dad settled in Melbourne they chose to live in the hinterland, in a place called Eltham, which at the time, was the home of a large arts community. One of the locals, Tim Burstall has been rightfully called the father of the rebirth of the Australian film industry. I did my film apprenticeship with his company, however, after eighteen months I decided that the film industry wasn't for me. It was all so transient and insubstantial, with all that work that could be dismissed in the space of a week.
Hobbies
I am passionate about photography and have a well equipped dark room at home. I was seduced by Leicas in much the same way that some people surrender to a drug of addiction - I have to get my weekly photographic fix. Still fascinated by the idea of movie making, I recently bought a Sony TRV 900 and did a course on the rudiments of production.
I am still a passionate builder and have all sorts of mad visions about building a place in the country inspired just a little by Frank Lloyd Wright, and about eighteen months ago I more or less finished constructing (with one assistant), a new home within in the interior of a hops drying kiln, built in 1863. This ambitious project includes four levels of living space and I am now putting a roof deck across the roof, and a few finishing touches here and there.
Passions....
Firstly I don't want to be branded as a furniture maker, in fact I hate the furniture business. What I'm passionate about (in no particular order) are; trees, wood, Leica cameras, anything to do with lenses, cooking, my dog, my house in the country, my children, sustained irreverence, dinner parties, what people say and do around tables, building (with the nail bag on), four wheel driving (and two wheeled), Apple computers and..... yes tables. I am obsessed with tables in case you hadn't noticed. Why? Well, how often do a group of people, who may or may not know each other, gather together with only their top halves visible?
"... As promised, please find attached a few pictures of our beautiful dining room table and chairs. We are absolutely delighted with them and can't thank you enough for all your advice and help. Rest assured they have gone to a good home and we enthusiastically recommend you and the company to everyone who comes over and admires the furniture ..."
- Belinda & Gavin Keeble
Our extensive range of solid timber furniture and soft furnishings includes Dining Tables, Chairs, Lounge Suites, Cabinets, Mirrors, Bookcases, Sofas and Chairs. It's all on display right now in our furniture section.
Nicholas Dattner & Co are proud sponsors of Landcare Australia.