.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Carl Leistler (1816-1907) received wide acclaim for his work at the Great Exhibition in London in 1851.
From 1843 until 1846 Leistler worked with Michael Thonet, under the direction of the English architect Peter Hubert Desvignes (1804-83), on the decoration of the 18th-century state rooms of the Palais Liechtenstein in Vienna (see AUSTRIA, fig. 27). The elaborate wall-decorations, parquet floors and furniture (in situ) were designed in the fashionable Rococo Revival style. In the 1850s Leistler continued to work in the service of John II, Prince of Liechtenstein, on the Gothic Revival furnishings (in situ) of the Bohemian castle of Eisgrub.
A nearly identical table with wooden top from Eisgrub is illustrated in G. Himmelheber, Die Kunst des Deutschen Möbels, Vol. III, München, 1973, pl. 725. Both tables draw their inspiration from the celebrated table by Tilman Riemenschneider, now in the Luitpoldmuseum in Würzburg. Made in 1506 for the townhall of Würzburg, it is amongst the rare excursions into furnishings by Riemenschneider, rightly famed for his sculptural work. The design for this table with its intricate foot made out of intersecting arcs is unique in the late Gothic era, and a tribute to Riemenschneiders genius. The original was surmounted by a circular stone top centred by the coats-of-arms of Würzburg. This so called Solnhofener stone, still quarried today in Bavaria.
From 1843 until 1846 Leistler worked with Michael Thonet, under the direction of the English architect Peter Hubert Desvignes (1804-83), on the decoration of the 18th-century state rooms of the Palais Liechtenstein in Vienna (see AUSTRIA, fig. 27). The elaborate wall-decorations, parquet floors and furniture (in situ) were designed in the fashionable Rococo Revival style. In the 1850s Leistler continued to work in the service of John II, Prince of Liechtenstein, on the Gothic Revival furnishings (in situ) of the Bohemian castle of Eisgrub.
A nearly identical table with wooden top from Eisgrub is illustrated in G. Himmelheber, Die Kunst des Deutschen Möbels, Vol. III, München, 1973, pl. 725. Both tables draw their inspiration from the celebrated table by Tilman Riemenschneider, now in the Luitpoldmuseum in Würzburg. Made in 1506 for the townhall of Würzburg, it is amongst the rare excursions into furnishings by Riemenschneider, rightly famed for his sculptural work. The design for this table with its intricate foot made out of intersecting arcs is unique in the late Gothic era, and a tribute to Riemenschneiders genius. The original was surmounted by a circular stone top centred by the coats-of-arms of Würzburg. This so called Solnhofener stone, still quarried today in Bavaria.