Lot Essay
Georg Haupt (1741 - 1784), master in 1770
Haupt frequently signed his work in French. He had worked in France and was versed in the foreign tongue regarded as being the language of culture in the 'Golden Age' of Sweden. Interestingly, Haupt's French signature appears in two manners. The two versions, 'fait par Georg Haupt' and 'fait chez Georg Haupt' ; do probably not, however, as previously implied, distinguish between the extent of the master's personal involvement in the execution of the piece, as Haupt delivered several pieces signed in the latter manner to the court.
There are two further works within Haupt's signed oeuvre bearing the S initial within a medallion, possibly indicating the patron for this lot. In 1776 Haupt completed a stand for a 17th Century cabinet, now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Wien (see: M. Lagerquist, op. cit., p. 130, cat. 18), which had belonged to Rudolph II but which was brought to Sweden by Count Hans Christopher von Königsmarck as loot after the storming of Prague in 1648. It is probable that the S initial refers to either Charlotta Eleonora Sparre (d.1787) or Beata Elisabeth Strömfelt (d.1803), the last surviving members of the family who probably commissioned the stand. The second work is a commode (see: M. Lagerquist, op. cit., p. 158, cat. 38) signed by Haupt in 1775, which first belonged to either the merchant Johan Martin Schön or his daughter Hedvig Magdalena Smedberg, to whom it was possibly given as a marriage gift. It is interesting to note that all works with initials within ribbon-hung medallion, which are dated, were made between 1775 and 1776.
Carl Robert Lamm (1856-1938), a prolific furniture collector, housed his collection in Näsby Castle, just north of Stockholm. The collection was dispersed at auctions in Stockholm and New York
Haupt frequently signed his work in French. He had worked in France and was versed in the foreign tongue regarded as being the language of culture in the 'Golden Age' of Sweden. Interestingly, Haupt's French signature appears in two manners. The two versions, 'fait par Georg Haupt' and 'fait chez Georg Haupt' ; do probably not, however, as previously implied, distinguish between the extent of the master's personal involvement in the execution of the piece, as Haupt delivered several pieces signed in the latter manner to the court.
There are two further works within Haupt's signed oeuvre bearing the S initial within a medallion, possibly indicating the patron for this lot. In 1776 Haupt completed a stand for a 17th Century cabinet, now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Wien (see: M. Lagerquist, op. cit., p. 130, cat. 18), which had belonged to Rudolph II but which was brought to Sweden by Count Hans Christopher von Königsmarck as loot after the storming of Prague in 1648. It is probable that the S initial refers to either Charlotta Eleonora Sparre (d.1787) or Beata Elisabeth Strömfelt (d.1803), the last surviving members of the family who probably commissioned the stand. The second work is a commode (see: M. Lagerquist, op. cit., p. 158, cat. 38) signed by Haupt in 1775, which first belonged to either the merchant Johan Martin Schön or his daughter Hedvig Magdalena Smedberg, to whom it was possibly given as a marriage gift. It is interesting to note that all works with initials within ribbon-hung medallion, which are dated, were made between 1775 and 1776.
Carl Robert Lamm (1856-1938), a prolific furniture collector, housed his collection in Näsby Castle, just north of Stockholm. The collection was dispersed at auctions in Stockholm and New York