.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
This is one of a small group of cabinets of very high quality and mostly with Royal provenance made probably in the Augsburg workshop of Melchior Baumgartner (1621-1696).
The closest example, also fitted with embroidered silk panels, is in the Prague Decorative Arts Museum and formerly belonged to the Wallenstein family. A second example, made by Melchior Baumgartner in 1646 for the crown of Bavaria and bought by Electress Marianne in 1655 for 3,150 guiders, is in the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Munich (illustrated G. Himmelheber, Kabinettschränke, Munich, 1977, pp.36-38). A third example from the Danish Royal Collection, is at Rosenborg Castle, Copenhagen (see H. Kreisel, Die Kunst des deutschen Möbels, Munich, 1974, fig. 367). Another, which belonged to William V, Prince of Orange (1748-1806) is now in the Louvre (D. Alcouffe et al., Furniture Collections in the Louvre, 1993, vol. I, pp. 48-51). Seized by the Revolutionary army, it was the first piece of furniture to enter the Louvre Museum collection. A further example is in the Schloss Köpernick Museum, Berlin.
The closest example, also fitted with embroidered silk panels, is in the Prague Decorative Arts Museum and formerly belonged to the Wallenstein family. A second example, made by Melchior Baumgartner in 1646 for the crown of Bavaria and bought by Electress Marianne in 1655 for 3,150 guiders, is in the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Munich (illustrated G. Himmelheber, Kabinettschränke, Munich, 1977, pp.36-38). A third example from the Danish Royal Collection, is at Rosenborg Castle, Copenhagen (see H. Kreisel, Die Kunst des deutschen Möbels, Munich, 1974, fig. 367). Another, which belonged to William V, Prince of Orange (1748-1806) is now in the Louvre (D. Alcouffe et al., Furniture Collections in the Louvre, 1993, vol. I, pp. 48-51). Seized by the Revolutionary army, it was the first piece of furniture to enter the Louvre Museum collection. A further example is in the Schloss Köpernick Museum, Berlin.