Lot Essay
The cupboard, known as Hamburger Schapp, is not necessarily, as the name implies, made in Hamburg. This type of furniture was produced throughout the region along the Baltic coast between Lübeck and Dantzig. The name only refers to the shape of the cupboard. A Hamburger Schapp has a rectangular horizontal cornice. The Dantziger Schapp, on the other hand, has a rectangular stepped cornice, while the Lübecker version can be recognised by its shaped arched cornice. (Heinrich Kreisel/Georg Himmelheber, Die Kunst des Deutschen Möbels, München, 1968, Volume 1, p.230).
The name Hamburger Schapp was already in use at the beginning of the 18th century. Johann Christian Senkeisen gave an accurate description of this type of cupboard in his book Leipziger Architektur-, Kunst-, und Seulenbuch, published by Christoph Friedrich Rumpffen circa 1707 in Leipzig.
These cupboards were generally placed in the hall of prosperous merchants' houses in northern Germany as the exeptional size of these cupboards meant that they were too large for even the most magnificant reception rooms of German townhouses (Wolfram Koeppe, Die Lemmers-Danforth-Sammlung Wetzlar, Heidelberg, 1992, p.164).
The offered Hamburger Schapp is related to one in the collection of the Landesmuseum in Oldenburg, Germany. (Heinrich Kreisel/Georg Himmelheber, ibid, fig. 506.)
See illustration
The name Hamburger Schapp was already in use at the beginning of the 18th century. Johann Christian Senkeisen gave an accurate description of this type of cupboard in his book Leipziger Architektur-, Kunst-, und Seulenbuch, published by Christoph Friedrich Rumpffen circa 1707 in Leipzig.
These cupboards were generally placed in the hall of prosperous merchants' houses in northern Germany as the exeptional size of these cupboards meant that they were too large for even the most magnificant reception rooms of German townhouses (Wolfram Koeppe, Die Lemmers-Danforth-Sammlung Wetzlar, Heidelberg, 1992, p.164).
The offered Hamburger Schapp is related to one in the collection of the Landesmuseum in Oldenburg, Germany. (Heinrich Kreisel/Georg Himmelheber, ibid, fig. 506.)
See illustration