Lot Essay
This imposing Bruges cupboard is a strong example of the late Gothic style of the late 15th and early 16th century in Flanders which preceded the first Renaissance. A relatively large goup of this late Gothic furniture still remains in public and private collections in Belgium, and it was therefore possible to compare the present cupboard to several others in public collections in Bruges.
Of the various cupboards displayed in the St Janshospitaal and O.L. Vrouwgesticht ter Potterie in Bruges, a cupboard in the latter is very similar in size and construction. The other cupboards were mostly smaller, but did share the same basic construction and metalwork as the present cupboard. The construction of the cupboard is simple but the standard of its execution is very high. All four doors shut very tightly, with virtually no crack to let in dust or air when the door is closed. Inside there are raised edges framing each door, further limiting the entry of air and dust.
The construction of this type of furniture was becoming more sofisticated towards the end of the 16th Century, introducing the use of a framing structure (definitively rejecting large planks of wood assembled with massive iron fittings) made it possible to fit the finely carved linenfold or X-panels as can be seen on the present lot. Linenfold panels - so called because of the similarity to folds in cloth, were a 15th century innovation, which were copied in three dimensions from architectural patterns, and spread throughout Europe in the late 15th to early 16th century. Both types of panel were used frequently to decorate all types of furniture including chests, two and four-door cupboards, in Flanders around 1480-1500. The earliest of them sport a central battée in the form of a Gothic pinnacle.
COMPARABLE CUPBOARDS.
St Janshospitaal Bruges
A small four door cupboard with X-panels; a low-cupboard with with two doors and eight X-panels.
O.L. Vrouwgesticht ter Potterie, Bruges,
A large four door cupboard with X-panels, (public section)
A large four door cupboard with simple linenfold panels and four large linenfold panels to the side.
Musée du Cinquantenaire, Brussels
A cupboard with two articulated doors, each divided into eight panels containing an 'X'-shaped design and bunches of grapes.
COMPARATIVE LITERATURE
Adolf Feulner, Kunstgeschichte des Möbels, Berlin, 1927, pl. 67
H. Jedding, Das schöne Möbel, München, 1978, pl. 30, 32, 36
S. Müller-Christensen, Alte Möbel, München, 1948, pl. 33.
Of the various cupboards displayed in the St Janshospitaal and O.L. Vrouwgesticht ter Potterie in Bruges, a cupboard in the latter is very similar in size and construction. The other cupboards were mostly smaller, but did share the same basic construction and metalwork as the present cupboard. The construction of the cupboard is simple but the standard of its execution is very high. All four doors shut very tightly, with virtually no crack to let in dust or air when the door is closed. Inside there are raised edges framing each door, further limiting the entry of air and dust.
The construction of this type of furniture was becoming more sofisticated towards the end of the 16th Century, introducing the use of a framing structure (definitively rejecting large planks of wood assembled with massive iron fittings) made it possible to fit the finely carved linenfold or X-panels as can be seen on the present lot. Linenfold panels - so called because of the similarity to folds in cloth, were a 15th century innovation, which were copied in three dimensions from architectural patterns, and spread throughout Europe in the late 15th to early 16th century. Both types of panel were used frequently to decorate all types of furniture including chests, two and four-door cupboards, in Flanders around 1480-1500. The earliest of them sport a central battée in the form of a Gothic pinnacle.
COMPARABLE CUPBOARDS.
St Janshospitaal Bruges
A small four door cupboard with X-panels; a low-cupboard with with two doors and eight X-panels.
O.L. Vrouwgesticht ter Potterie, Bruges,
A large four door cupboard with X-panels, (public section)
A large four door cupboard with simple linenfold panels and four large linenfold panels to the side.
Musée du Cinquantenaire, Brussels
A cupboard with two articulated doors, each divided into eight panels containing an 'X'-shaped design and bunches of grapes.
COMPARATIVE LITERATURE
Adolf Feulner, Kunstgeschichte des Möbels, Berlin, 1927, pl. 67
H. Jedding, Das schöne Möbel, München, 1978, pl. 30, 32, 36
S. Müller-Christensen, Alte Möbel, München, 1948, pl. 33.