AN AUGSBURG SILVER, TORTOISESHELL AND IVORY TABLE CABINET, the architectural body of pentagonal form with a central panel opening to reveal five silk lined recesses and five drawers with embossed silver foil decoration, two silver relief allegorical figures in lateral niches which open to reveal a drawer with two secret openings, four ivory fluted columns supporting a cornice with a pair of small drawers and ivory finials above, the whole on stepped shaped base opening to reveal an encrier drawer with silver-gilt inkwell and sander, the whole with tortoiseshell veneer over a wooden core, enlivened with pierced silver and silver-gilt appliques of scrolling foliage and gilt-wood trim (some damage and repair), late 17th or early 18th Century | Christie's

Lot 36

AN AUGSBURG SILVER, TORTOISESHELL AND IVORY TABLE CABINET, the architectural body of pentagonal form with a central panel opening to reveal five silk lined recesses and five drawers with embossed silver foil decoration, two silver relief allegorical figures in lateral niches which open to reveal a drawer with two secret openings, four ivory fluted columns supporting a cornice with a pair of small drawers and ivory finials above, the whole on stepped shaped base opening to reveal an encrier drawer with silver-gilt inkwell and sander, the whole with tortoiseshell veneer over a wooden core, enlivened with pierced silver and silver-gilt appliques of scrolling foliage and gilt-wood trim (some damage and repair), late 17th or early 18th Century

Details

AN AUGSBURG SILVER, TORTOISESHELL AND IVORY TABLE CABINET, the architectural body of pentagonal form with a central panel opening to reveal five silk lined recesses and five drawers with embossed silver foil decoration, two silver relief allegorical figures in lateral niches which open to reveal a drawer with two secret openings, four ivory fluted columns supporting a cornice with a pair of small drawers and ivory finials above, the whole on stepped shaped base opening to reveal an encrier drawer with silver-gilt inkwell and sander, the whole with tortoiseshell veneer over a wooden core, enlivened with pierced silver and silver-gilt appliques of scrolling foliage and gilt-wood trim (some damage and repair), late 17th or early 18th Century
12¾ x 13¼ x 7¼in. (32.4 x 33.6 x 18.4cm.)

Literature

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE:
H. Praël-Himmer, Der Augsburger Goldschmied Johann Andreas Thelot, Munich, 1978, nos. 72 & 126

Lot Essay

The allegorical figures and the delicate silver work bear strong resemblances with the oeuvre of Johann Andreas Thelot, in particular a set of Virtues illustrated in Praël-Himmer (op.cit., no.126, figs. 108-111). Besides its fine workmanship and delicate size, the present cabinet is remarkable also in that it is a secular object, for domestic, and not devotional use.

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