17TH CENTURY, POSSIBLY AUGSBURG

Details

A SOUTH GERMAN SILVER-MOUNTED EBONY TABLE CABINET
17TH CENTURY, POSSIBLY AUGSBURG
Of architectural form, the top with rectangular sliding lid decorated with two oval silver reliefs and opening to reveal an associated paper cutwork landscape scene, the main body with fluted columns and shaped arched panels with pierced foliate silver appliques, with double doors opening to reveal an elaborate architectural interior with six short drawers and one long one, two of the short drawers each with a further concealed drawer, all above a plinth with sliding front concealing two short drawers and a mirror, on ball feet, one relief panel to interior lacking, originally with finials.
14 3/8 x 15½ x 11 3/8 in. (36.5 x 39.4 x 28.9 cm.)

Provenance

Purchased by George Byng Esq. M.P. (d.1847) in 1824 and by descent.

Literature

'List of Furniture, Porcelain, Paintings & C., purchased by George Byng Esq., for Wrotham Park, 1816-43', '1824...A jewel or Trinket Casket of Ebony richly ornamented with Silver embossed work & figures £15 0s 0d'
Wrotham Park 1847 Inventory, 'SALOON A small ebony cabinet with brass panels'

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium, which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

This carved ebony jewel-cabinet's triumphal façade of Doric-fluted pilasters and arched tabernacle compartments reflects the antique fashion popularised by engravings such as those issued by the Strasbourg cabinet-maker Johann Ebelmann around 1600 (S. Jervis, Printed Furniture Designs before 1650, nos 192-7). A slide conceals its jewel-compartment in the hollow-sided dome, while a mirror is incorporated in its hollow-sided base. The cabochon-enriched doors have arched-tabernacles, that are filigreed in repoussé silver tablets featuring flowered ribbon-scrolls issuing from vases; while birds are incorporated in the foliated plaquettes embellishing the plinth's concealed drawer. The flowered tablets relate to the Nuremberg goldsmith's patterns issued by Virgil Solis (d.1562).

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