LATE 18TH CENTURY, PROBABLY BERLIN

Embellished with distinctive, finely-chased laurel and acanthus swags, this elegant gueridon relates to several items of furniture executed by the Hofbauschreiner Johann Friedrich (b. 1726) and Heinrich Wilhelm (b. 1738) Spindler for the Neues Palais in Potsdam. These include a marquetry writing table in the Arbeitszimmer of King Frederick II of Prussia, and a longcase clock with closely related swags to those on the present gueridon (J. Nicht, Die Möbel in Neuen Palais, Potsdam, 1980, pp. 18-19 and p. 71). Furthermore, there are close similarities with a jardiniere at Huis Doorn near Utrecht, which was furnished with items from various Hohenzollern palaces in and around Berlin for Kaiser Wilhelm II, who lived there in exile from 1920 until his death in 1941.

We are grateful to Dr. Reinier Baarsen for his help in preparing this catalogue entry.