A wooden chest with Mannerist architectural motifs
Two-part cabinet made with various veneers on oak and softwood, with a separate base with a wide drawer and wrought iron mountings. The front divided into two sections with architectural motifs by three broad pilasters inlaid with arabesques. The outer framework decorated with coins and oval medallions. The lock plates formed as stylised male mascarons. The feet truncated replacements, with replaced bronze drawer pulls and amended hinge mountings inside, the two inner compartments possibly later. H 98, W 181, D 69 cm.
Traditionally attributed to Cologne, or possibly South German, ca. 1600.
The type of this chest can be found in several renowned museums, including an example in the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, a similar version in the Rheinisches Landesmuseum Bonn and a third version, also almost identical, in the Röhsska Museum in Gothenburg. They differ from the piece offered here in that they have no base and that the three pilasters on the front have the same architectural representations as the square spaces between them. On the one hand, the facade bears elements associated with Cologne and the Rhenish region, such as the geometric ornamental borders, but also elements that do not appear in this form in Cologne, such as the borders with the dormers. The Mannerist architectural motif is borrowed from original engravings, such as those by Hans Vredeman de Vries. Earlier it was assumed that the model for these depictions was the Palace of Nonsuch, a castle in Surrey built by King Henry VIII.
Furniture of this period from Cologne is usually associated with the name Melchior von Rheidt (ca. 1590 - after 1624), the only cabinetmaker known by name who was active around 1600 and renowned throughout Germany. In contrast to this chest, his works, such as the senators' benches of Cologne City Hall, are characterized by a profusion of grotesques and architecture shown in perspective. Nevertheless, it is not too improbable that this piece originates from the circle of Melchior von Rheidt in Cologne.
Literature
Cf. a chest with a similarly decorated front in the Rheinischen Landesmuseum, Bonn, in: Goldkuhle, Möbel des 16.-18. Jahrhunderts im Rheinischen Landesmuseum, Kevelaer 1964, no. 3.
Cf. Two other chests in the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, acc. no. W.17:1-1931 and 342:1, 2-1905.
Cf. Also the almost identical chest in the Röhsska Museum, Göteburg, RKM 883-1906.
For more on Melchior von Rheidt see Werhahn-Fleischhauer, Melchios von Rheidt und die Frage der Cologneer Intarsienmöbel, in: Zehnder/Schäfke (ed.), Der Riss im Himmer, vol. I. Coellen eyn Croyn. Renaisance und Barock in Cologne, Cologne 1999, p. 255 ff.
Exhibitions
Exhibited at the Internationale Kunstausstellung, Cologne 1986.