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Lot Essay
This elegant Dutch sideboard belongs to a specific group of furniture made in the Dutch Louis XVI or Neo-Classical style attributed to an unknown workshop in The Hague or Haarlem area.
All have in common the broad cross-banding in dark stripy rosewood; distinctive marquetry decoration; pen-engraved decoration; recessed panels decorated with gilt brass beeding and a delicate beed-and-reel inlaid banding.
Typically Dutch is the combination of marquetry with Japanese, Chinese or imitation lacquer panels, and may have been a speciality of cabinet-makers working in The Hague, where novelties in furniture-making were often first developed. The celebrated Hague cabinet-maker Matthijs Horrix (1735-1809) was possibly responsible for the introduction of this daring new type of decoration. Horrix, who became meester kabinetwerker in 1764, was the principal supplier of furniture to the Stadtholder's Court between 1767 and 1795. He received a commission from Princess Wilhelmina of Prussia - the Stadtholder's consort who admired Horrix's work - in 1780 for '...Comodes wozu ihm Chinesisch Lackwerk geliefert', for which he received 557 florins.
The use of light satinwood and exotic veneers combined with refined marquetry and pen-engraved decoration is inspired upon the English George III Roman and Etruscan fashion, popularised by Robert and James Adam in the 1770's with their publication Works in Architecture in 1773.
The distinctive stylized scrolls, foliage and lozenge shaped panels with sharply contrasting veneers, as can be seen on the top, drawers and central door of the present lot, are clearly inspired by the renowned and highly skilled marquetry work of the famous Milanese cabinet-maker and Intarsiatore delle Altezze Reali Guiseppe Maggiolini (1738-1814).
Several other examples of furniture from this group and attributed to the same Dutch workshop are known.
These are:
- A sideboard and secretaire a abbatant en suite - Edele Eenvoud, Zwolle, 1989, ill. 126. p. 130, the Frans Halsmuseum, Haarlem.
- A sideboard 'klapbuffet', sold in these rooms 3 April 2003, lot 742. - A sideboard 'klapbuffet', sold in these rooms 12 October 2005, lot 139.
- A smaller sideboard with one door, with Angevaren, A. Hofstede, Nederlandse Meubelen, van barok tot biedermeier 1700-1830, Zwolle, 2004, p. 213, ill. 368.
- A serving table with Stodel, J.Estie, The Splendour of the Dutch Interior 1600-1800, Zwolle 2000, pp.70-71, no. 18.
An almost identical sideboard from the same group with marble top was sold Sotheby's Amsterdam, Fine Decorative Arts, 19 March 1991, lot 1077.
All have in common the broad cross-banding in dark stripy rosewood; distinctive marquetry decoration; pen-engraved decoration; recessed panels decorated with gilt brass beeding and a delicate beed-and-reel inlaid banding.
Typically Dutch is the combination of marquetry with Japanese, Chinese or imitation lacquer panels, and may have been a speciality of cabinet-makers working in The Hague, where novelties in furniture-making were often first developed. The celebrated Hague cabinet-maker Matthijs Horrix (1735-1809) was possibly responsible for the introduction of this daring new type of decoration. Horrix, who became meester kabinetwerker in 1764, was the principal supplier of furniture to the Stadtholder's Court between 1767 and 1795. He received a commission from Princess Wilhelmina of Prussia - the Stadtholder's consort who admired Horrix's work - in 1780 for '...Comodes wozu ihm Chinesisch Lackwerk geliefert', for which he received 557 florins.
The use of light satinwood and exotic veneers combined with refined marquetry and pen-engraved decoration is inspired upon the English George III Roman and Etruscan fashion, popularised by Robert and James Adam in the 1770's with their publication Works in Architecture in 1773.
The distinctive stylized scrolls, foliage and lozenge shaped panels with sharply contrasting veneers, as can be seen on the top, drawers and central door of the present lot, are clearly inspired by the renowned and highly skilled marquetry work of the famous Milanese cabinet-maker and Intarsiatore delle Altezze Reali Guiseppe Maggiolini (1738-1814).
Several other examples of furniture from this group and attributed to the same Dutch workshop are known.
These are:
- A sideboard and secretaire a abbatant en suite - Edele Eenvoud, Zwolle, 1989, ill. 126. p. 130, the Frans Halsmuseum, Haarlem.
- A sideboard 'klapbuffet', sold in these rooms 3 April 2003, lot 742. - A sideboard 'klapbuffet', sold in these rooms 12 October 2005, lot 139.
- A smaller sideboard with one door, with Angevaren, A. Hofstede, Nederlandse Meubelen, van barok tot biedermeier 1700-1830, Zwolle, 2004, p. 213, ill. 368.
- A serving table with Stodel, J.Estie, The Splendour of the Dutch Interior 1600-1800, Zwolle 2000, pp.70-71, no. 18.
An almost identical sideboard from the same group with marble top was sold Sotheby's Amsterdam, Fine Decorative Arts, 19 March 1991, lot 1077.