Lot Essay
In the advertisements of the Amsterdam furniture lotteries and in 18th century inventories this type of corner cabinet is often referred to as a 'hoekbuffet', whereas low corner cabinets or 'encoignures' are usually described as 'Commodes en Cointe' or 'coints', or even confusingly as 'hoekbuffetje', probably when the distinction with a larger corner cabinet needed to be made. (R.J. Baarsen, De Amsterdamse Meubelloterijen, Zwolle 1992, pp. 47-48) The superstructure of this type of furniture is generally fitted with several shaped shelves for the display of glass and silver items, whereas the base section was sometimes used for a cooler. (R.J. Baarsen, Nederlandse Meubelen 1600-1800, Zwolle 1993, p. 96) The 'hoekbuffet' must have already been quite rare at the end of the 18th century, in any case much rarer than the 'kabinet' or the 'buffet', as this type of furniture is only explicitly mentioned in four of the 147 advertisements of furniture lotteries held in Amsterdam between 1773 and 1799. (Baarsen, ibid., 1992, pp. 92-146) A similar corner cabinet was supplied by the Haarlem furniture-maker Johann Gottfried Fremming (1753-1832) on 2 January 1790 for one of the Regents' Chambers in Teylers Hofje, for which he received 86 florins. (J.R. ter Molen, 'De Regentenvertrekken van Teylers Hofje te Haarlem', Antiek 15 (1980-'81), p.334)
See illustration
See illustration