A GERMAN WHITE-PAINTED CAST-IRON CHAIR

The following four lots form part of a group of cast-iron seat furniture attributed to Karl Friedrich Schinkel (1781-1841), arguably the most important designer of German classicism. Friedrich Wilhelm II (who ruled 1786-1797) and Friedrich Wilhelm III (who ruled 1797-1840) of Prussia, in an attempt to support the weak trade position of their country, promoted the use of iron, which started to be extensively mined under Friedrich Wilhelm II's father Friedrich II's reign. Schinkel in his capacity as chief architect of the Department of Building Works of Prussia from 1806 furthened its use not only for building purposes, but also for decorative works such as monuments, jewellery and furniture. When, in 1821 Schinkel was asked to be on the board of the newly founded Königliches Preussisches Gewerbeinstitut (Royal Prussian Institute for Trade and Crafts) his influence on the future of Prussian design greatly increased. Schinkel made cast-iron the principal manufacturing material, as it suited both serial production and expressed the Neoclassical idiom particularly well. The institute supplied its designs to the Königliche Eisengiesserei Berlin, which flourished 1804-1866 and also cast the furniture for Schinkel's commissions. His designs reflected the influence of both classical ideas from Greek, Roman and Egyptian prototypes, as well as those of the contemporary French Empire and English Regency. He simplified these designs with the aim to 'imbue each structural part with beauty and truth to its own function'. After the expulsion of the Napoleonic forces in 1815, an extensive building programme started in Berlin, in which many of the Royal palaces were modernised. Schinkel's designs for cast-iron garden furniture were principally intended for these residences. He supplied the first benches to his designs in 1825. From his numerous garden furniture designs very few executed examples remain in existence, as pieces were either destroyed with changes of fashion or for the re-use of the material

Details

A GERMAN WHITE-PAINTED CAST-IRON CHAIR
AFTER A DESIGN ATTRIBUTED TO KARL FRIEDRICH SCHINKEL, 19TH CENTURY
The horizontal splat with two turned bars, the channelled frame above a seat with horizontal turned bars, the X-shaped legs joined by two turned bars and with ribbon-tied anthemia to the centre, terminating in pad feet, re-decorated, one back leg with restoration, the splat previously with further ornament

Lot Essay

This chair illustrates Schinkel's design in its purest state. There are none of the interchangeable ornaments on it save for the acanthus scrolls on the sides of the legs. It has been suggested that this particular design was cast at Carlshütte, Rendsburg, and, lacking the stamp CH, which was applied after 1834, should date between 1827 and 1834. It is certainly possible that, lacking a specific design for the chair, this model is simply based on Schinkel's designs and altered for a manufactory outside Berlin. It is, however, also possible that this chair was cast at the Königliche Eisengiesserei Berlin from Schinkel's designs, as this model was supplied to the Römische Bäder on the grounds of Charlottenhof, Berlin.

A design for this chair with ornamental splat and varying decoration to the legs is illustrated in E. Hintze, Gleiwitzer Eisengusskunst, Breslau, 1928, fig. 3. A chair of this model at Sanssouci, Potsdam, is illustrated in M. Snodin, Karl Friedrich Schinkel: A Universal Man, Exhibition Catalogue, London, 1991, p. 155, fig. 82

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