Lot Essay
This type of two-door cupboard probably emerged around 1660 and is characterised by shallow raised panels and restained carving of foliate-trails, which also appears on classical buildings constructed in Holland in the 3rd quarter of the 17th Century. This example is also decorated with delicately-carved auricular motifs - generally associated with the Utrecht gold- and silversmiths Paulus (c. 1570-1613) and Adam van Vianen (1587-1669) - which were introduced to furniture after the middle of the Century. An important influx hereto was provided by the series of prints by Gerbrand van den Eeckhout (1621-1674), entitled Verscheydene Aerdige Compartementen en Tafels, published in Amsterdam in 1655, which included designs for furniture and precious metals. (A. Gruber (ed.) Classicism and the Baroque in Europe, New York, 1996, p. 36)
A related cupboard, currently in the collection of the Rijksmuseum, is dated 1689 and was made for Mello Alberda (1642-1698), who lived at Menkemaborg in Groningen. It is illustrated in R.J. Baarsen, Nederlandse Meubelen 1600-1800, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, 1993, pp. 50-51. A further - although slightly less ornate - related example, is illustrated in C.H. De Jonge, Holländische Möbel und Raumkunst von 1650-1780, The Hague, 1922, p. 93.
See illustration
A related cupboard, currently in the collection of the Rijksmuseum, is dated 1689 and was made for Mello Alberda (1642-1698), who lived at Menkemaborg in Groningen. It is illustrated in R.J. Baarsen, Nederlandse Meubelen 1600-1800, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, 1993, pp. 50-51. A further - although slightly less ornate - related example, is illustrated in C.H. De Jonge, Holländische Möbel und Raumkunst von 1650-1780, The Hague, 1922, p. 93.
See illustration