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Lot Essay
This elegant desk, while altered from its original state, still retains the hallmark elements of a Roentgen showpiece. It is beautifully constructed, the legs with the trademark massive steel screws along with many of his most typical mounts, many of which, including the distinctive rosettes, can be attributed to his principal fournisseur of bronzes, François Rémond. Furthermore, the desk is illustrated in almost all of the Roentgen literature.
The Neues Schloss at Reibersdorf had a particularly difficult 20th century history, even by the rough standards of Central Europe. Hard on the present day Saxon-Polish border, after the border shifts of 1945 it was incorporated into Poland and, since then, the entire area has been destroyed by strip-mining for coal. Nothing remains of the castle or the village.
The Saxon minister, Graf Johann-Georg von Einseidel significantly expanded the Neues Schloss, and decorated it in the neo-classical style, between the years 1763 and 1779, so it is entirely possible the Roentgen desk could have been supplied to the castle as early as then. After 1920, the family and estate had significant economic difficulties, so the Roentgen desk could have left the collections in the 1920's or 1930's.
The Neues Schloss at Reibersdorf had a particularly difficult 20th century history, even by the rough standards of Central Europe. Hard on the present day Saxon-Polish border, after the border shifts of 1945 it was incorporated into Poland and, since then, the entire area has been destroyed by strip-mining for coal. Nothing remains of the castle or the village.
The Saxon minister, Graf Johann-Georg von Einseidel significantly expanded the Neues Schloss, and decorated it in the neo-classical style, between the years 1763 and 1779, so it is entirely possible the Roentgen desk could have been supplied to the castle as early as then. After 1920, the family and estate had significant economic difficulties, so the Roentgen desk could have left the collections in the 1920's or 1930's.