BRESLAU, THIRD QUARTER 18TH CENTURY

Braunschweig took an added importance as a centre of court art after the Elector of Hannover, of the house of Braunschweig-Celle, became King of England as George I in 1714, causing his cousins, the Dukes of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel, who resided in Braunschweig rather than Hannover, to attain a more prominent position in their part of Germany. In the same year 1714, August Wilhelm succeeded as Duke of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel. A characteristic feature of Braunschweig cabinet-making is the finely detailed inlay-work featuring figures in engraved ivory; this is already apparent in the panelling installed in a cupboard in the Städtisches Museum Braunschweig, round 1740-1750, Braunschweiger Rokoko, 2005 Braunschweig, p. 35. A comparable cupboard is shown in H. Kreisel, Die Kunst des deutschen Möbels, München, 1970, pl. 101.