A MID-GERMAN FIGURED WALNUT AND MARQUETRY PEDESTAL DESK

CIRCA 1745-1760

Details

A MID-GERMAN FIGURED WALNUT AND MARQUETRY PEDESTAL DESK
CIRCA 1745-1760
CROSS-BANDED AND BANDED OVERALL AND INLAID WITH SIMULATED PANELS, THE SHAPED RECTANGULAR MOULDED TOP INLAID WITH A CENTRAL CUBE PARQUETRY PANEL FRAMED BY GEOMETRIC BORDERS AND CENTRED BY A LOZENGE INLAID WITH A CROSS WITH SCROLLING TIPS, ABOVE A BLUE GILT LINED WRITING SLIDE, A CONCAVE-FRONTED FRIEZE DRAWER A KNEE HOLE FLANKED TO EITHER SIDE BY A BOW-FRONTED CUPBOARD, EACH WITH A PLAIN INTERIOR WITH TWO SHELVES, THE REVERSE WITH A SERPENTINE-FRONTED FRIEZE ABOVE A SHAPED FRIEZE CARVED WITH CONFORMING C-SCROLLS, ROCKWORK ON A POUNCED PANELLED GROUND, FLANKED BY TRAILING ACANTHUS, ABOVE A KNEEHOLE, FLANKED TO EITHER SIDE BY A SHAPED DOOR, EACH ENCLOSING A PLAIN INTERIOR WITH TWO SHELVES, THE CANTED ANGLES HEADED BY A SHELL-MOTIF AND TRAILING FOLIAGE, THE CHANNELLED MOULDED BASE ABOVE LATER SCROLLING SHELL FEET, THE TOP PROBABLY LATE 18TH CENTURY AND RE-USED IN THE 19TH CENTURY, RESTORATIONS
80CM. HIGH X 141CM. WIDE X 71CM. DEEP

Lot Essay

THE PEDESTAL DESK, WHICH ENJOYED GREAT POPULARITY IN BRITAIN IN THE 18TH CENTURY, WAS VIRTUALLY UNKNOWN IN GERMANY. ONLY A FEW EXAMPLES OF GERMAN ORIGIN ARE KNOW. DESPITE THEIR PRINCELY APPEARANCE, THESE ITEMS OF FURNITURE WERE PROBABLY NOT INTENDED TO BE PART OF THE FURNISHINGS OF A PALACE, BUT RATHER OF AN ABBEY, WHERE THEY MAY HAVE BEEN USED IN A LIBRARY OR IN AN OFFICE. A RELATED BIBLIOTHEKSTISCH FROM NIEDERSACHSEN IS ILLUSTRATED IN H. KREISEL/G. HIMMELHEBER, DIE KUNST DES DEUTSCHEN MöBELS, MUNICH 1970, VOL. II, FIGS. 102-103.
INTERESTINGLY, A RELATED PEDESTAL DESK, WITH MORE FIGURATIVE MARQUETRY DECORATION, BEARS THE ARMS OF THE BENEDICTINE ABBEY OF FISCHINGEN IN THE CANTON OF THURGAU IN SWITZERLAND. IT WAS SOLD ANONYMOUSLY AT SOTHEBY'S LONDON, 24 NOVEMBER 1989, LOT 253.

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