An important and rare German Gothic carved pine, limewood and parquetry schrank, Salzburg third quarter 15th century

with a crenellated cornice above a frieze carved with tracery, above a pair of quarter panelled doors carved with tracery and roundels, above three frieze drawers inlaid with trelliswork flanked by a diaper motif on a red stained ground, above a further pair of similarly carved doors, on bracket feet, the whole carved with Gothic tracery

The Studio, An Illustrated Magazine of Fine & Applied Art, London, 15^th April 1908, Vol. 43, No. 181, p. 202, fig.6. (stated then to be in Count Wilczek’s Collection). 
Franz Windisch-Graetz, Möbel Europas: Romanik-Gotik, Munich, 1982. p. 298-299.

Comparative Literature:
Otto Von Falke, Deutsche Möbel des Mittelalters & Renaissance, Stuttgart, 1924, p. 116.
Adolf Feulner, Kunstgeschichte des Möbels seit dem Alterum, Berlin, 1927, pp. 48-51.  
Heinrich Kreisel, Die Kunst des deutschen Möbels, Vol. I, Munich, 1968, fig. 120.
Weltkunst-The World Art Review-1^st July 1960, p.  for a schrank of similar form with very similar carving.

This monumental schrank intricately carved with tracery panels and with a crenellated cresting brings to mind the turrets of a castle and represents the apogee of German Gothic cabinet-making. The tracery decoration, combining round arches imitating widow arrangements with heart-shaped curves is rather striking and the `tracery windows’ are inserted with flowers which was a device commonly used in the Western European late Gothic period.

This type of tracery together with cross-hatched drawers and crenellated cresting can also be seen on a schrank described as Austrian, mid 15^th century, in the Ludwig Collection, Aachen, Germany, illustrated by Kreisel, op. cit.  fig. 120, reproduced in fig. 1. It has a similar cresting but has a deeper frieze carved with roundels with tracery than that on the offered schrank. The motifs on the rest of the illustrated piece differ but it is in the same form as this schrank with two pairs of quarter panelled doors intersected by three cross-hatched frieze drawers, with a tracery apron upon bracket feet carved with perpendicular arches.

Another closely comparable schrank is illustrated by von Falke, op. cit., p. 116, which was formerly in the collection of Graf Wimpffen, Graz, reproduced here in fig. 2. It is of the  same form  as the one illustrated in fig. 1, with its narrower crenellated cresting, deep frieze with tracery roundels and the drawers are interposed by cubes as opposed by diaper  motifs.

It is also worthwhile mentioning a related though far less ornately carved schrank, with a crenellated cresting and two pairs of doors intersected by two frieze drawers, illustrated by Kreisel, op. cit. fig 101,  in Nürnberg Germanisches Nationalmuseum, reproduced here in fig. 3.

The evolution of this type of Gothic cabinet can be traced to skilled woodcarvers, who were responsible for the splendid sculptures on choirstalls and other furniture in medieval churches and cathedrals and would also apply their skills to more secular objects. As cabinets slowly detached themselves from the structure of the building and took on a more three-dimensional look within the room, so did their importance as a showcase for displaying objects which was reflected in their carving. The earlier cabinets made by carpenters were often built in the place where they were to be displayed, i.e. in the house, chapel etc. It was not until the arrival of the cabinetmaker that the erection and assembly took place in the carpenter’s workshop.

The intricate carving on this piece displays the dual relationship between carving and architecture, where the high gothic or gothique flamboyant became more decorative and detailed than architectural. This transcended into the art of furniture; the crenellations on top and the fine tracery carving demonstrate the strength of the earlier Gothic repertoire. Although this armoire demonstrates the skill of Gothic craftsmen, it shows evidence of foreign craftsmanship and announces a new development in cabinet making.

The fine inlay of this armoire comes from the east, known as tarsia geometrica or tarsia secco. This process of inlay, dubbed opera di Damasco, a technique which had its origins in the Caliphal period was recorded in both Spain and North Africa and was also influenced by Italian intarsia work. The technique of certosina is a type of 15th century inlay work made with polygonal tesserae of wood, bone, metal and mother-of-pearl arranged in geometric patterns and was especially popular in Lombardy and Venice. From around the third quarter of the 15th century to around the first quarter of the 16th century, the marquetry technique reached its apogee in Italy. Certainly in Central Italy the marqueteers created works to rival that of the painters in Northern Italy, producing coffers and other pieces of furniture in a uniquely geometric and floral design utilising a technique of cutting out little pieces of wood and tinted bone and ivory and this process came via Italy from the North South trade routes through the Tirol, Salzburg and Eastern-Austria.