MID 18TH CENTURY, WÜRZBURG, IN THE MANNER OF FERDINAND TIETZ

Ferdinand Tietz - or Dietz (1708-1777) as he is also often called - was one of the most important sculptors of the rococo period in South Germany. Probably receiving his early training from his father, Johann Adam Tietz, he is first mentioned working at the Würzburg Residenz in 1736. His career progressed rapidly with both secular and ecclesiastical commissions and he was made court sculptor in Bamberg (1748) and later Würzburg (1767). Although recent publications discovered that it is still unclear if Tietz is responsible for the famous four seasons console tables made for Schloss Seehof in Bamberg, see also S. Sangl, Das Bamberger Hofschreinerhandwerk, München 1990, pl. 117-123; the present console table is highly comparable to the exaggerated and pronounced rockwork carvings of these console tables and is directly comparable to a further console table, formerly made for Schloss Seehof. H. Kreisel, Die Kunst des Deutschen Möbels, vol II, München 1970, pl. 546-548.