.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Drottningholm Palace, standing beside Lake Malaren and the official residence of the Swedish Royal Family, is often referred to as the Versailles of the North. Queen Hedvig Eleonora (1636-1715), wife of Karl X, acquired the site in 1661 and commissioned Nicodemus Tessin the Elder to build a new palace modelled on Vaux-le-Vicomte to replace the old building which burned down shortly after she took possession. Parts of this magnificent Baroque structure were later remodelled in the fashionable Neoclassical taste of the 1760s by Queen Louisa Ulrika, younger sister of Frederick the Great of Prussia, including the installation of a library decorated in white and gold by the architect Jean Eric Rehn.
Drottningholm is perhaps most celebrated for the remarkable survival of its interiors intact. As very little is known to have left the Palace, the label on these consoles must be treated with some scepticism. In character, however, these consoles do relate to furniture supplied to the Palace in the 1780s by Gottlieb Iwersson which displayed a marked French influence, although certain details of their construction point to an origin other than Swedish.
Drottningholm is perhaps most celebrated for the remarkable survival of its interiors intact. As very little is known to have left the Palace, the label on these consoles must be treated with some scepticism. In character, however, these consoles do relate to furniture supplied to the Palace in the 1780s by Gottlieb Iwersson which displayed a marked French influence, although certain details of their construction point to an origin other than Swedish.