Lot Essay
This elegant secretaire reflects the English influence on Dutch cabinet-making, between circa 1780-1795, when light satinwood and harewood veneers and refined marquetry decoration were greatly admired. This influence from England was probably stimulated by the spread of printed furniture designs, such as Hepplewhite's The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer's Guide (1788) and Sheraton's The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer's Drawing Book (1794), which almost certainly became an important source of inspiration for furniture-makers in Holland. (R.J. Baarsen, Meubelen en Zilver op de tentoonstelling 'Edele Eenvoud, Neoclassicisme in Nederland 1765-1800', Frans Halsmuseum, Haarlem, 1989, p. 119)
However, typically Dutch is the combination of this type of marquetry with Japanese, Chinese or imitation lacquer panels, and may have been a speciality of cabinet-makers working in The Hague, where novelties in furniture-making were often first developed. The celebrated Hague cabinet-maker Matthijs Horrix (1735-1809) was possibly responsible for the introduction of this daring new type of decoration. Horrix, who became the principal supplier of furniture to the Stadholder's Court between 1767 and 1795, received a commission from Princess Wilhelmina in 1780 for '... Comodes wozu ihm Chinesisch Lackwerk geliefert', for which he received 557 florins. (R.J. Baarsen,''In de commode van Parijs tot Den Haag', Matthijs Horrix (1735-1809), een meubelmaker in Den Haag in de 2de helft van de 18de eeuw', Oud Holland 107 (1993), p. 176).
Interestingly, this secretaire is closely related to a number of items of marquetry furniture, which are attributed to Horrix. Several elements of the marquetry decoration, such as the ribbon-tie of the fallfront and the characteristic segmentary borders appear on a very similar secretaire a abattant, attributed to Horrix, which is illustrated in Baarsen, ibid, p. 115.
However, typically Dutch is the combination of this type of marquetry with Japanese, Chinese or imitation lacquer panels, and may have been a speciality of cabinet-makers working in The Hague, where novelties in furniture-making were often first developed. The celebrated Hague cabinet-maker Matthijs Horrix (1735-1809) was possibly responsible for the introduction of this daring new type of decoration. Horrix, who became the principal supplier of furniture to the Stadholder's Court between 1767 and 1795, received a commission from Princess Wilhelmina in 1780 for '... Comodes wozu ihm Chinesisch Lackwerk geliefert', for which he received 557 florins. (R.J. Baarsen,''In de commode van Parijs tot Den Haag', Matthijs Horrix (1735-1809), een meubelmaker in Den Haag in de 2de helft van de 18de eeuw', Oud Holland 107 (1993), p. 176).
Interestingly, this secretaire is closely related to a number of items of marquetry furniture, which are attributed to Horrix. Several elements of the marquetry decoration, such as the ribbon-tie of the fallfront and the characteristic segmentary borders appear on a very similar secretaire a abattant, attributed to Horrix, which is illustrated in Baarsen, ibid, p. 115.