It is a very good time to be a collector of Schulim Krimper furniture: prices at auction are increasing steadily and the supply of good pieces, while spasmodic, shows little sign of drying up. "A good time to buy, a good time to sell," say the experts.

Demand for Krimper's distinctive work was stimulated when one of his signature pieces, a 1951 blackbean bookcase, was bought by the National Gallery of Victoria for $24,000 last May; a record price for Australian post-war design.

The National Gallery of Australia has a Krimper writing desk in its collection of contemporary Australian design and the furniture maker now ranks with the likes of Grant Featherston and Marc Newson. Surprisingly, even 10 years ago there was little interest in his work.

"Twenty years ago you couldn't give the stuff away, no one wanted it," says Warren Joel, an auctioneer and avid Krimper collector. Whatever it was worth 10 years ago, he adds, you can now multiply by 10.

One Melbourne art collector, who recently snapped up his first Krimper piece, remembers that his son was renting an apartment in St Kilda which had a pair of Krimper wooden doors. Such was the lack of interest at the time that when a new owner renovated the place the doors were removed and presumably dumped.

Schulim Krimper was born in 1893 in what is now Ukraine. The son of a rabbi, he completed his apprenticeship as a cabinet maker and worked mainly in Berlin before fleeing to Melbourne in 1939 to escape the Nazis. He died in 1971.

Krimper set up shop on the old High Street in St Kilda and attracted a clientele from the local Jewish community. Such was his reputation that some architects would design houses with his furniture in mind. The Krimper style was part post-war modernism but there are also references to the Biedermeier style and folk furniture. There's also an Australian flavour: he loved to use indigenous timbers, particularly Queensland blackbean.

He was also known for his artistic temperament and would not hand over completed work if his clients were critical in any way and would make them a new piece. This was how he came to establish a relationship with the auctioneer Leonard Joel (see My Collection), who sold any rejected work.

What makes Krimper so collectable these days was his refusal to adopt any form of mass production. He insisted on making unique pieces on a commission basis. Buying a Krimper was easy: customers would simply walk into his workshop, place an order, then wait patiently until he had finished.

The pieces were worth waiting for. Krimper was a master of traditional techniques such as the dovetail joint and the drawers, which all fit perfectly, glide in and out with fingertip pressure.

He also liked to experiment with the unconventional. Last year's National Gallery of Victoria acquisition is a typical example. It's a combination bookcase and chest that features another Krimper trademark, the use of handcrafted copper for the latch on the cabinet doors, finger pulls on the drawers and ferrules on the legs.

The use of Queensland blackbean is also typical and he used the timber until the early '60s because of its beauty, incorporating variations in the grain into his designs.

Temperamental or not, the work of Schulim Krimper was widely appreciated in its day. He first exhibited at the National Gallery of Victoria in 1959 and was celebrated with a second, posthumous, exhibition in 1975.

A 1987 book called Schulim Krimper Cabinetmaker by Terence Lane is recommended by admirers of the furniture maker. The remaining copies can be purchased through Carter's Antiques and Collectables in Sydney (www.carters.com.au).

Because of the family tradition Warren Joel is always on the lookout for Krimper furniture to sell; there were six pieces in the autumn sales that fetched $500 to $2000. The standout item was a blackbean single-pedestal desk and chair with olive-green leather upholstery.

Krimper was very much a Melbourne identity but in his new incarnation as a design icon there's strong interest from Sydney collectors and Shapiro Auctioneers in Queen Street, Woollahra, regularly sell his work.

Andrew Shapiro sold that record-setting blackbean bookcase last year along with several other Krimper pieces, including chairs and dining and coffee tables.

The next Shapiro 20th Century Design auction, on March 28, will include some rare lighting and room dividers. Expect a large crowd of Krimperphiles to attend.

My collection

Warren Joel is the managing director of the Melbourne auction house named after his grandfather, Leonard Joel, but he started his career in the back rooms of the business on a less than basic wage.

In those early days he was told that he should start collecting something and so he chose art nouveau because it was cheap at the time and nobody else was collecting it.

He's also a dedicated collector of Schulim Krimper furniture, inspired largely by the stories his grandfather told him. He never met Krimper but remembers the furniture arriving suddenly for sale, the result of some difference of opinion between craftsman and client.

He is surprised at how much Krimper furniture seems to be around. Occasionally he discovers houses full of the stuff and finds himself torn by his interests as a collector and auctioneer.