A German fruitwood marquetry cabinet, Augsburg, circa 1600
Lot Closed
April 29, 02:07 PM GMT
Estimate
6,000 - 9,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
A German fruitwood marquetry cabinet, Augsburg,
circa 1600
of rectangular form, inlaid with stylized foliage, figures, animals and townscapes, the two doors opening to reveal an interior fitted with an arrangement of drawers comprising a row of four small drawers flanking on each side a central door probably inlaid with Orpheus playing his harp surrounded by animals, with one drawer above and one below this central panel, with further eight small secret drawers behind the removable central niche, the niche itself with four small secret drawers to the back, one drawer with handwritten label 'German, early 17th century from Ionidis Sale. Bought by John Mc Andrew at Christie's', with printed label from auction catalogue '353 A CABINET - 19in. high - 22in. wide - German, 16th century - on stand / The whole elaborately inlaid with marqueterie of coloured woods, flowers and vases.'
47.5cm. high, 57cm. wide, 36.5cm. deep; 1ft. 6⅝in., 1ft. 10⅜in., 1ft. 2⅜in.
Collection of John McAndrew, Holly Hill, Coleman's Hatch, Sussex;
Christie's, London, Collection of John McAndrew, Holly Hill, 1 December 1925, lot 353.
This cabinet with its skillful marquetry surface is a very fine example of the distinctive type of cabinet which emanated from Augsburg in the 16th century. They were known as 'schreibtische' and were in their time considered a luxury item that served as a storage cabinet for precious belongings and confidential papers. According to Baarsen (in German Furniture, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, 1998, pp. 6-15): `From the mid-16th century onwards marquetry flourished in this city, fostered by the availability of many indigenous woods and the rapid evolution of new production techniques'. Most Augsburg marquetry table cabinets like the present are decorated with landscapes containing ruins and animals.
Comparable cabinets were sold at Sotheby’s, London, 9 December 1994, lot 63; Sotheby’s, London, 27 May 1988, lot 160 and Christie’s, New York, 30 March 2001, lots 293 and 294. Another example in the collections of the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum in Munich (Kat. Nr. 52) is illustrated in L. Möller, Der Wrangelschrank und die verwandten Süddeutschen Intarsienmöbel des 16 Jahrhunderts, Berlin, 1956, fig. 145.