A GERMAN ROCOCO POLYCHROME-DECORATED AND PARCEL-GILT COMMODE POTSDAM OR DRESDEN, MID-18TH CENTURY

By repute, Schloss Sanssouci, Potsdam;
Gifted by Frederick the Great to an officer of his Guards in Spandau;
Thence by descent until 1928;
Adolfo Loewi, Venice

The piece is in untouched old condition and in all likelihood has had no significant restoration undertaken since at least its most recent acquisition almost 100 years ago. The possibly original marble top has been broken and restored, with some infill lacking. There are losses, flaking and cracks to the polychrome, parcel gilt and silver decoration and the gesso ground throughout, notably on the left middle drawer front, the lower drawer front, the left and right front uprights and the right side. There is extensive surface dirt, but a significant amount of the original polychrome, parcel gilt and silver colouring appears to be preserved. The left side has a split in the surface decoration running almost full length and a further full-length age split to the carcase and surface decoration. The right side has a shrinkage crack to the gesso surface and two full-length shrinkage splits to the surface at the join. One internal board on the right side with a shrinkage crack but this has not extended to the surface gesso decoration. The central runner and rear batten support to the middle drawer possibly replaced. The circular wooden support disk to the left front foot detached but present. The back carcase panels with old shrinkage splits to the lower left and loss to the lower right corner near the join. The top carcase with age split to the central batten and later thin wooden batten nailed to the rear right flank. Numbered '352' several times in red and black on the top panels. All joints are stable and the piece is structurally sound overall.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

With its silver decoration against a pale ground and its distinctive bombé shape, this outstanding commode is a fine example of furniture-making in the German states in the mid-eighteenth century. Juxtaposing rich gilt and silver decoration against a white or cream-colored field was a hallmark of rococo interiors from the Bavarian court at Nymphenburg to Frederick II’s Sanssouci, where master designers and furniture makers such as François de Cuvilliés and Johann Michael Hoppenhaupt created some of the most dazzling and luxurious interiors of eighteenth-century Europe.

Until the reign of Frederick the Great, the Berlin palaces had been furnished in a rather conservative and sober taste. Soon after Frederick's accession, however, he appointed Georg Wenzeslau von Knobelsdorff as superintendent of his palaces and under his leadership, the so-called `Frederican Rococo' evolved, which was developed by Johann August Nahl and Johann Michael Hoppenhaupt. Hoppenhaupt was born in Merseburg and trained in Dresden and Vienna. He arrived in Berlin on Frederick the Great's accession to the Prussian throne. In 1746, Hoppenhaupt replaced Nahl, under whom Hoppenhaupt had worked as a woodcarver, as `Directeur des Ornements'. He decorated Schloss Sanssouci where his greatest achievement was the Music Room.

Hoppenhaupt's designs for interior projects and furniture were engraved by Johann Wilhelm Miel and published in 1751 and 1755. A number of the drawings relate to furniture in the palaces of Potsdam and include commodes that were generally of bold bombé form and carved with floral and foliate motifs. For an engraving by Miel showing a Hoppenhaupt commode related to the present lot with its overall shape and similar feet and mounts, see Heinrich Kreisel, Die Kunst des deutschen Möbels, vol. II, Munich, 1970, fig. 740. A commode by Hoppenhaupt in the royal bedroom and study at Sanssouci with comparable incised gesso decoration and overall exaggerated curves is illustrated ibid., fig. 739. An almost identical commode from the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Lehmann, Fritzlar, Germany, was offered Sotheby’s London, December 2, 2008, lot 117. Even though that commode was considered to be of Dresden manufacture, probably because it hailed from Schloss Moritzburg near Dresden, it was also catalogued as a piece closely related to Hoppenhaupt’s oeuvre. The commode offered here and the Moritzburg commode are almost identical and were without doubt executed by the same craftsman or at least following the same design. Knowing that Hoppenhaupt trained in Dresden, it is possible that these commodes are part of his earliest oeuvre as a designer. It is also possible that these commodes were intended for the same interior or rooms connecting en filade. What makes the present commode particularly rare is its honest and unadulterated condition. The silver and the polychrome decoration all appear original and with proper conservation this piece could be restored to its dazzling glory.