Lot Essay
This side table is conceived in the Dutch kwabstijl or auricular style, which was developed by the Utrecht gold-and silversmiths Paulus and Adam van Vianen at the beginning of the 17th Century. Around 1650 a number of designs for precious metals in this style were brought into print by Adam's son Christiaen and were soon followed by a series of prints by the painter Gerbrand van den Eeckhout, who was also the son of a silversmith. Eeckhout's designs, which were published in 1655, demonstrate a later version of the auricular style and also included designs for furniture, which were particularly suitable for sculptural pieces, such as frames, cabinet-stands and side tables.
(Catalogus van meubelen en betimmeringen, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, 1952, p. 55 and R.J. Baarsen, Nederlandse Meubelen 1600-1800, Zwolle, 1993, pp. 40-41)
In the Dressing Room or Antechamber of the Duke of Lauderdale at Ham House a very similar side table formed a decorative ensemble with a looking-glass and a pair of candle-stands en suite and was probably placed against a pier between two windows, which was the most common position for this type of furniture. These items are mentioned in the 1677 inventory as 'one glass wt an Abinie [ebony] fram[e], one table and stands of ye same ...', and in the following inventory, which was made up in 1679 as 'one table and pr of Stands of black ebony cain'd wth leather Covers'. The table was obviously not made of ebony but of pine which was painted black. Surprisingly the tops of the table and of the stands were 'cain'd', which must have been highly fashionable as it could not have been very practical. These pieces were probably acquired by the Duchess shortly after an extension had been made to the house in 1670 as a bill of money 'payed out for the Lady Duchess of Lauderdale in Holland by Mistress V. der Huva' in 1672 mentions 'a table and two gadons', which probably refers to the above-mentioned auricular side table and two guéridons. (P. Thornton, 'The Furnishing and Decoration of Ham House', Furniture History Society Journal 16 (1980), pp. 48-51.)
(Catalogus van meubelen en betimmeringen, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, 1952, p. 55 and R.J. Baarsen, Nederlandse Meubelen 1600-1800, Zwolle, 1993, pp. 40-41)
In the Dressing Room or Antechamber of the Duke of Lauderdale at Ham House a very similar side table formed a decorative ensemble with a looking-glass and a pair of candle-stands en suite and was probably placed against a pier between two windows, which was the most common position for this type of furniture. These items are mentioned in the 1677 inventory as 'one glass wt an Abinie [ebony] fram[e], one table and stands of ye same ...', and in the following inventory, which was made up in 1679 as 'one table and pr of Stands of black ebony cain'd wth leather Covers'. The table was obviously not made of ebony but of pine which was painted black. Surprisingly the tops of the table and of the stands were 'cain'd', which must have been highly fashionable as it could not have been very practical. These pieces were probably acquired by the Duchess shortly after an extension had been made to the house in 1670 as a bill of money 'payed out for the Lady Duchess of Lauderdale in Holland by Mistress V. der Huva' in 1672 mentions 'a table and two gadons', which probably refers to the above-mentioned auricular side table and two guéridons. (P. Thornton, 'The Furnishing and Decoration of Ham House', Furniture History Society Journal 16 (1980), pp. 48-51.)