Lot Essay
During the later phase of the development of Dutch neoclassical furniture, between circa 1780 and 1795, a new type of marquetry decoration became fashionable, with a distinctive preference for light woods, such as satinwood and harewood, which harmonised with the simplified geometric motifs. This type of decoration relates to that on marquetry furniture produced in England in the same period and was probably also inspired by the engraved furniture designs by Hepplewhite and Sheraton, which were published in 1788 and 1794 respectively, and were undoubtably a valuable source of inspiration to funiture-makers working in Holland
A considerable number of Dutch marquetry secretaires, encoignures and commodes dating from this period are enriched with panels of Japanese, Chinese or imitation lacquer, creating a contrastive effect between the light veneers and the black - or in this case red - lacquer panels. This type of decoration may have been a speciality of cabinet-makers working in The Hague, where novelties in furniture-making were often first developed. The celebrated Hague cabinet-maker Matthijs Horrix (1735-1809) probably played an important innovative role in the introduction of this new type of decoration, and supplied Princess Wilhelmina of Prussia, the wife of Stadholder Prince William V, with `...Comodes wozu ihm Chinesisch Lackwerck geliefert', as early as 1780, for which he received 557 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. 176)
See illustration
A considerable number of Dutch marquetry secretaires, encoignures and commodes dating from this period are enriched with panels of Japanese, Chinese or imitation lacquer, creating a contrastive effect between the light veneers and the black - or in this case red - lacquer panels. This type of decoration may have been a speciality of cabinet-makers working in The Hague, where novelties in furniture-making were often first developed. The celebrated Hague cabinet-maker Matthijs Horrix (1735-1809) probably played an important innovative role in the introduction of this new type of decoration, and supplied Princess Wilhelmina of Prussia, the wife of Stadholder Prince William V, with `...Comodes wozu ihm Chinesisch Lackwerck geliefert', as early as 1780, for which he received 557 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. 176)
See illustration