The following two lots were almost certainly executed by the same as yet unidentified cabinet-maker, possibly en suite. In spite of several characteristics reminiscent of English cabinet making of the early 19th Century, such as the bell-hung 'richly japan'd bedroom suite' executed in the mid-1820s by the Edinburgh cabinet-maker William Trotter (d. 1833) (I. Gow, 'William Trotter's Furniture for Kinfauns Castle', Furniture History, 1997, pp. 241-247) and a similar sofa table that was sold anonymously at Sotheby's London, 14 May 1993, lot 423, this suite was almost certainly executed by a Viennese cabinet-maker. The polished maple interior is a typical feature of Viennese cabinet work after 1807, often deliberately used to contrast with the dark exterior. Black polished exteriors enriched with decorations on Biedermeier furniture are first mentioned in a 'master' application of 1813. However this fashion disappeared in the early 1820s when cabinet work reverted to displaying different specimen woods and figuring. (G. Fabiankowitsch, C. Witt-Dörring, 'Genormte Fantasie', Exhibition Catalogue, Vienna, 1996, pp. 36-45).
A VIENNESE BIEDERMEIER POLYCHROME, BLACK AND GILT-JAPANNED SIDE CABINET
EARLY 19TH CENTURY
Details
A VIENNESE BIEDERMEIER POLYCHROME, BLACK AND GILT-JAPANNED SIDE CABINET
Early 19th Century
The main panels decorated with bunches of fruit and flowers with birds butterflies and insects, framed by flowers and foliage, the shaped top above a frieze drawer decorated with scrolling acanthus and flowers and two confronting griffens, flanked by panels of musical trophies above two bowed doors enclosing a plain ash-lined interior with one adjustable shelf, flanked by pilastres headed by a flowerhead scroll and on a bowed plinth with flowerhead filled trellis band, finial lacking to scroll
43¾ in. (111 cm.) wide; 33½ in. (85 cm.) high; 18¼ in. (46 cm.) deep
Early 19th Century
The main panels decorated with bunches of fruit and flowers with birds butterflies and insects, framed by flowers and foliage, the shaped top above a frieze drawer decorated with scrolling acanthus and flowers and two confronting griffens, flanked by panels of musical trophies above two bowed doors enclosing a plain ash-lined interior with one adjustable shelf, flanked by pilastres headed by a flowerhead scroll and on a bowed plinth with flowerhead filled trellis band, finial lacking to scroll
43¾ in. (111 cm.) wide; 33½ in. (85 cm.) high; 18¼ in. (46 cm.) deep