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Lot Essay
This superb aventurine lacquered cabinet can be grouped with four other cabinets and a table which are all decorated using the same technique. All executed in Holland in the 1660s-1675s, the height of the Dutch "Golden Age", and all to be attributed to the same anonymous maker or workshop. Cabinets such as these were items of prestige and often used to store precious linen. With their flat rectangular surfaces these cabinets were eminently suited to display the most sumptuous marquetry and lacquer decoration. There are several cabinets known which have been inlaid with painterly floral marquetry - attributable to van Meekeren; also well known are cabinets executed with oyster veneers or parquetry star-motifs similar to the decoration on the inside of the doors of the present cabinet. However the distinctive group to which the present cabinet belongs is very small and relatively unknown.
The group of related aventurine furniture:
1.The present lot.
2.The Van Rijckevorsel cabinet on exhibition in museum Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam, on loan from the Erasmusstichting Rotterdam.
3.The Celle cabinet in the Bomann-Museum in Celle, Germany.
4.The Frederik Muller cabinet sold anonymously, 1912.
5.A table in a Dutch private collection.
The Van Rijckevorsel and the Celle cabinets are likely to have been a pair. The motifs used on both cabinets are similar, though the Celle cabinet no longer has its original stand, which has been replaced with a typical early 18th century German chinoiserie stand.
The Frederik Muller cabinet differs somewhat from the other three cabinets. The size is slightly different and the motifs on the sides are not comparable. Interesting though is that the sides do show similarities to the work of Dirck van Rijswijck (1595-1679) who arrived in Amsterdam around 1630. (Daniëlle Kisluk-Grosheide, 'Dirck van Rijswijck (1596-1679), a Master of Mother of Pearl', Oud Holland, III - 1997 nr. 2)
There can be no doubt that the pieces were made in Holland. Their shapes are characteristically Dutch. Cabinets of this model had become the standard form of fashionable storage furniture in Holland by the 1660s. Typical features include the flat top, the large doors, the long drawer below the doors, the geometric marquetry inside the doors and the H-shaped stretcher. The most conspicuous feature of these cabinets is the absence of any moulded borders or carved detail. They are conceived as a series of flat surfaces that offer large, uninterrupted spaces for the application of decoration.
The four cabinets and the table are made of oak and all veneered in ebony. Known is that all four cabinets have geometric marquetry panels to the reverse of the doors. With exception of the Celle cabinet, the bun feet, the spirally-turned supports, the H-shaped stretchers and the base and frieze drawers are all alike.
Special structural elements, such as ebony shavings inserted between the individual boards of core wood are a feature found on all the pieces and may be a trademark of the workshop.
The decoration
The pattern has been gauged out of the ebony veneers and filled with very fine lacquer containing small metal shavings which produce a shimmering effect. The 17th century terms for this translucent lacquer were aventurine, avanturine, luisterryke- or blinkende Spikkel. Its fabrication was time consuming and costly and involved taking thin silver-plated copper wire which was flattened and teid in bunches with thread before being cut into small shavings of no more than a few millimeter in length. Having prepared the metal shavings they were then strewn into the decoration with animal and then the whole is coated with shellac solution. A different effect using similar techniques was used on Antwerp cabinets decorated in the so-called Flemish lacquer inlay. Possibly the idea for lacquered inlays was inspired from this source. See also lot 993 in this sale. (W. de Kesel, Vlaams Barok Meubilair in Lak, Drongen 1991)
The aventurine intarsia technique is described in a Dutch 18th Century recipe book:
"ECHT VOORSCHRIFT
Tot het maken van de berugte
VERNIS van MARTIN,
Of, gelyk zy door de Engelschen genoemt word,
MARTIN'S COPAL VERNIS:
Benevens zes andere luisterryke Vernisse zoo als die gemaakt en gebruikt worden door de Schilders van het Koninglyk Paleis te Parys. Te weten:
1. De Berugte Copal Olie Vernis.
2. De Amber Vernis.
3. De Goude Lack Vernis.
4. De Goude Vernis voor Schilderyen.
5. De Vernis voor Koper.
6. De Vernis voor Goud.
7. De Vernis voor Zilver.
8. De Avanturine of Luisterryke Spikkel.
Als mede de Wyze hoe dezelve te leggen, en naar den eersten Paryschen smaak te Polysten.
Uit het Engelsch vertaalt.
TE ROTTERDAM,
By DIRK VIS, Boekverkooper
op de Blaak by de Beurs, 1774."
Page 14:
"De Avanturine of blinkende Spikkel.
Voorzie u bij de Draad trekkers, van Zilverdraad, een mengsel van Koper, overblazen met Zilver, en op klosjes gewonden. Deze platte draad heeft de breedte van omtrent een tiende gedeelte eens duims; wind het van 't klosje en maak 'er draaden van die omtrent vyf vierendeel lengte hebben, neem tien of twaalf van die draaden by één, en bewoel die losjes met Pak-garen. Snyd dezelve vervolgens met een scherpe Schaar aan den enden in smalle stukjes, die naauwlyks een zestiende deel van één duim moeten hebben, en zoo veel stukjes te gelyk als 'er draaden of lengtens zyn. Op deze wyze zal iemand in een half uur niet veel meer dan een once versnyden.
De Versierzelen die men gespikkelt wil hebben worden bestreken met vetten Olie en Wit-lood; de Spikkels doet men in een fyne haire zeef, die over het werk geschudt wordt, dat vervolgens eene schitterende vertooning maakt en als Diamanten flikkert.
Alhoewel de glinstering van deze Spikkels zeer groot en schoon zy, en de Spikkels van Zilver zyn, zullen dezelve nogthans bezwalken en niet lang hunne kleur behouden; om die reden, bestryke men dezelve met Lack-vernis, ten einde ze als goud te doen voorkomen, of anders kan men ze verglazen met Gom-lack, Spaansch groen, of blaauwzel, om ze verscheiden, en 'er een mengeling der schoonste glanssen van te maken: strykt men dezelve dan nogmaals over met Copal of Amber-vernis, als dan kan men ze zoo glad polysten als glas, ook zullen zy haaren stand en glans behouden, zoo lang als het paneel, waar op dezelve gestrooit zyn blyft duren. Over het Spikkel-werk dient men verscheide lagen vernis te leggen, om die reden dat de Spikkels zekere verhevenheid hebben."
Clearly, the maker of the group was consciously following Dutch and French fashion. The aventurine intarsia technique used on this cabinet and on the furniture in the whole group seems to be unique in Holland. Though decorative schemes used on the furniture in this group are typically European, some eaven bearing a resemblance to the decorative effect achieved by seaweed marquetry, the lacquer itself imitates the effect of Japanese nashiji lacquer. In 1664 the V.O.C. imported 101 pieces of lacquer into Holland. These cabinets and coffers were admired throughout Europe and they may have inspired the maker of the present lot.
The doors and sides, show a pattern composed of light, symmetrical scrollwork furnished with naturalistic flowers and foliage. This ornamentation can be compared with the work of several contemporary craftsmen.
The foremost ébéniste of the early years of Louis XIV's reign was the Dutch-born Pierre Gole (c. 1620-1685) who may have been the first to decorate furniture with floral marquetry, probably in the early 1650s. Circa 1660 he executes collector's cabinets for Louis XIV which feature marquetry panels of which the design show similarities to the decoration on the group. (Th.H. Lunsingh Scheurleer, Pierre Gole ibiniste de Louis XIV, Dijon 2005, fig.14)
Recently the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam acquired a cabinet by Wilhelm de Rots which was made for Amalia van Solms (1602-1675), spouse of Stadholder Prince Frederik Hendrik. This cabinet, which can be dated 1650-1660, demonstrates a large scale marquetry of tortoiseshell and ivory on both the exterior as the interior of the doors and on the sides. Especially the pattern on the sides shows resemblance to the pattern on the group. Striking is that the present lot depicts putti on the doors as does the Amalia cabinet. ('Keuze uit de aanwinsten, nr 5', Bulletin van het Rijksmuseum, 2006, 1, p. 72-75)
Supporting the positioning of the group in the 1660s-1675s is dendrologist's research on the doors of the Celle cabinet.
We are grateful to Michiel de Vlam for his help in cataloguing this lot.
The group of related aventurine furniture:
1.The present lot.
2.The Van Rijckevorsel cabinet on exhibition in museum Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam, on loan from the Erasmusstichting Rotterdam.
3.The Celle cabinet in the Bomann-Museum in Celle, Germany.
4.The Frederik Muller cabinet sold anonymously, 1912.
5.A table in a Dutch private collection.
The Van Rijckevorsel and the Celle cabinets are likely to have been a pair. The motifs used on both cabinets are similar, though the Celle cabinet no longer has its original stand, which has been replaced with a typical early 18th century German chinoiserie stand.
The Frederik Muller cabinet differs somewhat from the other three cabinets. The size is slightly different and the motifs on the sides are not comparable. Interesting though is that the sides do show similarities to the work of Dirck van Rijswijck (1595-1679) who arrived in Amsterdam around 1630. (Daniëlle Kisluk-Grosheide, 'Dirck van Rijswijck (1596-1679), a Master of Mother of Pearl', Oud Holland, III - 1997 nr. 2)
There can be no doubt that the pieces were made in Holland. Their shapes are characteristically Dutch. Cabinets of this model had become the standard form of fashionable storage furniture in Holland by the 1660s. Typical features include the flat top, the large doors, the long drawer below the doors, the geometric marquetry inside the doors and the H-shaped stretcher. The most conspicuous feature of these cabinets is the absence of any moulded borders or carved detail. They are conceived as a series of flat surfaces that offer large, uninterrupted spaces for the application of decoration.
The four cabinets and the table are made of oak and all veneered in ebony. Known is that all four cabinets have geometric marquetry panels to the reverse of the doors. With exception of the Celle cabinet, the bun feet, the spirally-turned supports, the H-shaped stretchers and the base and frieze drawers are all alike.
Special structural elements, such as ebony shavings inserted between the individual boards of core wood are a feature found on all the pieces and may be a trademark of the workshop.
The decoration
The pattern has been gauged out of the ebony veneers and filled with very fine lacquer containing small metal shavings which produce a shimmering effect. The 17th century terms for this translucent lacquer were aventurine, avanturine, luisterryke- or blinkende Spikkel. Its fabrication was time consuming and costly and involved taking thin silver-plated copper wire which was flattened and teid in bunches with thread before being cut into small shavings of no more than a few millimeter in length. Having prepared the metal shavings they were then strewn into the decoration with animal and then the whole is coated with shellac solution. A different effect using similar techniques was used on Antwerp cabinets decorated in the so-called Flemish lacquer inlay. Possibly the idea for lacquered inlays was inspired from this source. See also lot 993 in this sale. (W. de Kesel, Vlaams Barok Meubilair in Lak, Drongen 1991)
The aventurine intarsia technique is described in a Dutch 18th Century recipe book:
"ECHT VOORSCHRIFT
Tot het maken van de berugte
VERNIS van MARTIN,
Of, gelyk zy door de Engelschen genoemt word,
MARTIN'S COPAL VERNIS:
Benevens zes andere luisterryke Vernisse zoo als die gemaakt en gebruikt worden door de Schilders van het Koninglyk Paleis te Parys. Te weten:
1. De Berugte Copal Olie Vernis.
2. De Amber Vernis.
3. De Goude Lack Vernis.
4. De Goude Vernis voor Schilderyen.
5. De Vernis voor Koper.
6. De Vernis voor Goud.
7. De Vernis voor Zilver.
8. De Avanturine of Luisterryke Spikkel.
Als mede de Wyze hoe dezelve te leggen, en naar den eersten Paryschen smaak te Polysten.
Uit het Engelsch vertaalt.
TE ROTTERDAM,
By DIRK VIS, Boekverkooper
op de Blaak by de Beurs, 1774."
Page 14:
"De Avanturine of blinkende Spikkel.
Voorzie u bij de Draad trekkers, van Zilverdraad, een mengsel van Koper, overblazen met Zilver, en op klosjes gewonden. Deze platte draad heeft de breedte van omtrent een tiende gedeelte eens duims; wind het van 't klosje en maak 'er draaden van die omtrent vyf vierendeel lengte hebben, neem tien of twaalf van die draaden by één, en bewoel die losjes met Pak-garen. Snyd dezelve vervolgens met een scherpe Schaar aan den enden in smalle stukjes, die naauwlyks een zestiende deel van één duim moeten hebben, en zoo veel stukjes te gelyk als 'er draaden of lengtens zyn. Op deze wyze zal iemand in een half uur niet veel meer dan een once versnyden.
De Versierzelen die men gespikkelt wil hebben worden bestreken met vetten Olie en Wit-lood; de Spikkels doet men in een fyne haire zeef, die over het werk geschudt wordt, dat vervolgens eene schitterende vertooning maakt en als Diamanten flikkert.
Alhoewel de glinstering van deze Spikkels zeer groot en schoon zy, en de Spikkels van Zilver zyn, zullen dezelve nogthans bezwalken en niet lang hunne kleur behouden; om die reden, bestryke men dezelve met Lack-vernis, ten einde ze als goud te doen voorkomen, of anders kan men ze verglazen met Gom-lack, Spaansch groen, of blaauwzel, om ze verscheiden, en 'er een mengeling der schoonste glanssen van te maken: strykt men dezelve dan nogmaals over met Copal of Amber-vernis, als dan kan men ze zoo glad polysten als glas, ook zullen zy haaren stand en glans behouden, zoo lang als het paneel, waar op dezelve gestrooit zyn blyft duren. Over het Spikkel-werk dient men verscheide lagen vernis te leggen, om die reden dat de Spikkels zekere verhevenheid hebben."
Clearly, the maker of the group was consciously following Dutch and French fashion. The aventurine intarsia technique used on this cabinet and on the furniture in the whole group seems to be unique in Holland. Though decorative schemes used on the furniture in this group are typically European, some eaven bearing a resemblance to the decorative effect achieved by seaweed marquetry, the lacquer itself imitates the effect of Japanese nashiji lacquer. In 1664 the V.O.C. imported 101 pieces of lacquer into Holland. These cabinets and coffers were admired throughout Europe and they may have inspired the maker of the present lot.
The doors and sides, show a pattern composed of light, symmetrical scrollwork furnished with naturalistic flowers and foliage. This ornamentation can be compared with the work of several contemporary craftsmen.
The foremost ébéniste of the early years of Louis XIV's reign was the Dutch-born Pierre Gole (c. 1620-1685) who may have been the first to decorate furniture with floral marquetry, probably in the early 1650s. Circa 1660 he executes collector's cabinets for Louis XIV which feature marquetry panels of which the design show similarities to the decoration on the group. (Th.H. Lunsingh Scheurleer, Pierre Gole ibiniste de Louis XIV, Dijon 2005, fig.14)
Recently the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam acquired a cabinet by Wilhelm de Rots which was made for Amalia van Solms (1602-1675), spouse of Stadholder Prince Frederik Hendrik. This cabinet, which can be dated 1650-1660, demonstrates a large scale marquetry of tortoiseshell and ivory on both the exterior as the interior of the doors and on the sides. Especially the pattern on the sides shows resemblance to the pattern on the group. Striking is that the present lot depicts putti on the doors as does the Amalia cabinet. ('Keuze uit de aanwinsten, nr 5', Bulletin van het Rijksmuseum, 2006, 1, p. 72-75)
Supporting the positioning of the group in the 1660s-1675s is dendrologist's research on the doors of the Celle cabinet.
We are grateful to Michiel de Vlam for his help in cataloguing this lot.