GERMAN OR SCOTTISH, MID-19TH CENTURY

The earliest recorded use of antlers as ornamentation was on Gothic Kronleuchters or circular chandeliers, an example in the Stadtischesmuseum in Erfurt dating to circa 1400. In the early 19th Century, there was a revival of interest in antler and hunting furniture, particular in Northern Europe. Thomas Sheraton illustrated an adjustable hunting chair in his Cabinet Dictionary, 1803 (pl. 8) and described it as 'a temporary resting place for one that is fatigued, as hunters generally are'. In Austria, Josef Danhauser's shop produced antler furniture from 1804-1838, while the Great Exhibition of 1851 boosted its popularity, its primary producer being H.F.C. Rampendahl of Hamburg. At the 1862 London Exhibition, R. Friedrich Böhler of Frankfurt was awarded a silver medal for his display of stag-horn furnishings (B. Newman and A. Duncan, Fantasy Furniture, New York, 1989, pp. 79-84 and S. Jervis, 'Furniture in Horn and Antler', Connoisseur, November 1977, pp. 190-201).