LATE 18TH CENTURY

This pair of encoignures is conceived in the last phase of the development of Dutch neoclassical marquetry furniture, between circa 1780 and 1795. Whereas marquetry furniture produced in the preceding period - with naturalistic marquetry and picturesque ormolu mounts - attempted to emulate French examples, this later phase demonstrates a mixture of influences, whereby English influences gradually overshadowed those from France. This influx from England was probably stimulated by the spread of printed furniture designs, such as Hepplewhite's The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer's Guide (1788) and Sheraton's The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer's Drawing-Book (1794), which almost certainly became an important source of inspiration for furniture-makers in Holland. (R.J. Baarsen, Meubelen en Zilver op de tentoonstelling 'Edele Eenvoud, Neo-classicisme in Nederland 1765-1800', Frans Halsmuseum, Haarlem, 1989, p.119) Similar designs were subsequently printed in Holland. The Kabinet van Mode en Smaak, published in Haarlem between 1791 and 1794, illustrated several typically English items of furniture. This series included a design for a cutlery urn, which may have inspired Matthijs Horrix (1735-1809) as he delivered '2 Ingelegde vaasen, ieder voor 12 Leepels en vorken' to Mrs. van Dam in 1794, for which he was paid 60 florins. (R.J. Baarsen, ''In de commode van Parijs tot Den Haag', Matthijs Horrix (1735-1809), een meubelmaker in Den Haag in de 2de helft van de 18de eeuw', Oud Holland 107(1993), p. 214 and p. 239)

See illustration and front cover