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Lot Essay
One of the rarest and greatest technical achievements of the eighteenth Century was German glass beadwork from Brunswick, with Johann Michael von Selow considered to be its finest craftsmen. Originally from the Netherlands, Von Selow worked under the Royal patronage of Duke Carl I of Brunswick. The factory was in existence less than twenty years (1755-1772) and few examples of this colourful beadwork exist. Examples of Von Selow's work can be seen in the Städtische Museum in Braunschweig and in The Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle.
Perhaps the grandest example of this beadwork technique exists in a salon of the Chinese Palace at the Oranienbaum complex of palaces (now Lomonosov) near St. Petersburg. Built in the 1760's by Antonio Rinaldi for Catherine the Great, the room contains panels depicting fantastic rococo chinoiserie scenes of embroidered and painted silk, perhaps after the designs of Jean Pillement, which are surrounded by large panels woven of blue, mauve and pink glass beads.
(A. Kennett, The Palaces of Leningrad, 1973, p. 244.)
A beadwork and pewter table top on a Louis XV beechwood stand attributed to Von Selow was sold Christie's, New York, 26 October 2001, lot 374. Another beadwork table from his workshop was sold from the collection of the late Charlotte von Prybram-Gladona, Christie's, Amsterdam, 15 february 2005, lot 434. For related tables see also: A. Rauch, A. Flöck, Manufaktur von Selow aus Braunschweig - Glasperlenmosaike des Rokoko, Braunschweig 2005, p. 44-49
Perhaps the grandest example of this beadwork technique exists in a salon of the Chinese Palace at the Oranienbaum complex of palaces (now Lomonosov) near St. Petersburg. Built in the 1760's by Antonio Rinaldi for Catherine the Great, the room contains panels depicting fantastic rococo chinoiserie scenes of embroidered and painted silk, perhaps after the designs of Jean Pillement, which are surrounded by large panels woven of blue, mauve and pink glass beads.
(A. Kennett, The Palaces of Leningrad, 1973, p. 244.)
A beadwork and pewter table top on a Louis XV beechwood stand attributed to Von Selow was sold Christie's, New York, 26 October 2001, lot 374. Another beadwork table from his workshop was sold from the collection of the late Charlotte von Prybram-Gladona, Christie's, Amsterdam, 15 february 2005, lot 434. For related tables see also: A. Rauch, A. Flöck, Manufaktur von Selow aus Braunschweig - Glasperlenmosaike des Rokoko, Braunschweig 2005, p. 44-49