Lot 1196 D‡α

This chest of drawers is one of the largest, if not the largest piece of furniture that ever left the workshop of Abraham Roentgen in Neuwied. Despite its linear construction and smooth front, it still appears very dynamic. This effect is in part achieved through the deliberate placement of carvings and in part by the fluting on the chest of drawers which literally draw the viewer's gaze upwards, where it falls upon the lively and interestingly placed veneers. These veneers are double-mirrored on the fronts of the doors to provide a quatrefoil surround that further emphasises the ivory inlays.
The carvings in the lower section of the piece are also noteworthy. This style appears mainly in the former half of the Roentgen family's oeuvre. The motifs were usually used on tables to accentuate the legs and angles, or on the corners of chests of drawers and aprons. The same motifs are repeated in many of the carvings: Shells, rocailles, and acanthus leaves are depicted in countless variations. The prototypes of these designs can be found in England, where Abraham Roentgen spent a considerable amount of his time as a journeyman before returning to the Continent and joining the Herrnhut brethren. These kinds of carvings appear less and less towards the mid-1760s and disappeared completely when David Roentgen took over the workshop. At this point the marquetry, already brought to perfection by Abraham, finally came to the fore and dominates the surface design.