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Lot Essay
This rare and precious Augsburg cabinet, with its splendid, rich combination of materials and colors, is an excellent example of the collectors' cabinets which were among the most astounding achievements of Augsburg artisans in the 17th century.
Not simply intended as convenient storage articles, these pieces were used by rulers and aristocrats as collector’s cabinets or Kunstschrank and displayed in the Kunstkammer or Wunderkammer – the cabinet of curiosities. Many such cabinets contained a precious collection of both naturalia (a variety of natural curiosities such as corals, shells and gemstones) and arteficia (including works of art and mechanical instruments). Besides the display of wealth and luxury, these cabinets had a deeper symbolic significance. In the form of a miniature Kunstkammer, they were also intended to represent the microcosm and reflect on its relationship with the universe, to stimulate intellectual curiosity and broaden scientific knowledge (R. Baarsen, 17th Century Cabinets, Zwolle, 2000, p. 12).They were a powerful tool by which a Prince or King could be seen to encourage new scientific discoveries, thus bestowing on a particular dynasty the reputation of enlightened patronage.
Key to the dominance of Augsburg’s role in the production of such items was Philipp Hainhofer (1578-1647), a scholar, diplomat, connoisseur, collector and art dealer from Augsburg. Hainhofer conceived and commissioned cabinets by the very best craftsmen of Augsburg. Hainhofer’s international connections helped spread the taste for these cabinets across Europe. In 1610 he wrote: ‘Here [in Augsburg] very beautiful Schreibtische are made of ebony, ivory and other woods, with secrets [compartments] or without, which are bought as far afield as Prague, France, Italy and Spain’. Indeed, the Royal and princely inventories of Europe testify that these cabinets were widely valued. See Giusti, W. Koeppe and A. Giusti, Art of the Royal Court: Treasures in Pietre Dure from the Palaces of Europe, New York, 2008, p. 62. His international connections, also contributed to the construction of such pieces. His brother, for example, was based in Florence and is recorded as having supplied pietra dura plaques to Hainhofer.
A small oil painting on copper at the Kunstgewerbemuseum, Berlin by Anton Mozart (see figure above) depicts the presentation of a now lost cabinet to the Duke of Pomerania at Schloss Stettin in 1617. In the painting, the cabinet sits prominently at the center of the composition, Hainhofer and the cabinet maker Ulrich Baumgartner (1580-1652) offer and explain a drawer of the cabinet containing curiosities, to the seated Duke and Duchess. The twenty-seven craftsmen and artists involved in the production of the cabinet stand in the foreground, some holding tools of their trade, as they wait to be presented to their patron. The present lot contains eighteen secret drawers. Such secret drawers were a popular feature of collector’s cabinets. They were included so as to astonish the viewer on seeing the craftsmen’s ingenuity and virtuosity, hence the need to have a demonstration of the cabinet’s particular features when it was acquired.
Three celebrated Kunstkammern commissioned by Hainhofer were executed in the renowned workshop of Ulrich Baumgartner (1580-1652) and his son Melchior (1621-1696). These are the Pommerische Kunstschrank, delivered in 1617 to Duke Philip of Pomerania (now destroyed), the Stipo d'Alemagna, presented in 1628 by Archduke Leopold of Austria to Grand Duke Ferdinand II of Tuscany, now in the Pitti Palace, and a cabinet given to King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden by the City of Augsburg in 1632, now in Uppsala University (D. Alfter, Die Geschichte des Augsburger Kabinettschranks, Augsburg, 1985, pp. 42-57, figs. 33-42).
Many cabinets of this period were veneered in ebony and ivory. The use of a tortoiseshell veneer, seen on the present lot, is much more unusual. For another example of an Augsburg cabinet veneered in tortoiseshell see figure above, a cabinet by Johann Georg Esser (1652-1727) and Wolfbauer, circa 1680-1685 at the Residenz Munich (discussed in G. Hojer and H. Ottomeyer, Die Möbel der Residenz München, Vol. II, Munich, 1996, pp. 82-89, no. 9). The Munich cabinet is conceived in a similar manner to the present lot, of architectural form with an inverted breakfront, and featuring banks of four drawers flanking a central panel depicting a vase of flowers, all interposed by columns.
The bracket feet of the present cabinet bare similarities to those on an ivory and lapis lazuli table cabinet by Melchior Baumgartner commissioned by Maria Anna, wife of Maximilian I, Prince Elector of Bavaria c. 1682 (Bayerisches Nationalmuseum Inv.-Nr. R 2139) and another, also of ivory and lapis lazuli and commissioned by the Bavarian court, c. 1646 at the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum (See M. Riccardi-Cubitt, The Art of the Cabinet, London, 1992, p. 53). A further, related ivory cabinet mounted with columns and pietra dura plaques, attributed to Melchior Baumgartner, was sold The Property of a Private European Collection; Christie's, New York, 14 December 2000, lot 30 (£597,750).
THE PIETRA DURA PLAQUES
The spectacular plaques of this cabinet comprise two distinct types:
Fifteen panels of birds, flowers and fruit
These pietra dura panels were undoubtedly made at the Grand Ducal workshop in Florence, the Opificio delle Pietre Dure. The central panel depicts a lapis lazuli urn of flowers - a favored motif, with plaques of birds on fruiting and flowering branches above and below. These plaques are undoubtedly based on zoological and botanical drawings executed by Jacopo Ligozzi (1547-1627). Ligozzi worked for the Medici court and supplied patterns to the craftsmen at the Florentine Grand Ducal workshop. In the early 1600s Ligozzi’s loving observation of nature introduced a dramatic change in the production of pietra dura panels, the influence of which was felt for many subsequent decades. A related design of birds of paradise perched in a fruit tree, part of a series of ornithological and botanical studies by Ligozzi in the Gabinetto dei Disegni e Stampe at the Uffizi, Florence, is illustrated in Giusti, W. Koeppe and A. Giusti, Art of the Royal Court: Treasures in Pietre Dure from the Palaces of Europe, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2008, p. 170, fig. 116.
Two panels of abstract architectural outline
These panels, situated to the center of each side of the cabinet, relate to a series of panels designed by Ligozzi for the Church of Ognissanti, Florence. The arches around the chapel’s altar are set with panels of hardstone inlay which imitate the flounces and embroidery of altar cloths and appear of abstract architectural outline.
Not simply intended as convenient storage articles, these pieces were used by rulers and aristocrats as collector’s cabinets or Kunstschrank and displayed in the Kunstkammer or Wunderkammer – the cabinet of curiosities. Many such cabinets contained a precious collection of both naturalia (a variety of natural curiosities such as corals, shells and gemstones) and arteficia (including works of art and mechanical instruments). Besides the display of wealth and luxury, these cabinets had a deeper symbolic significance. In the form of a miniature Kunstkammer, they were also intended to represent the microcosm and reflect on its relationship with the universe, to stimulate intellectual curiosity and broaden scientific knowledge (R. Baarsen, 17th Century Cabinets, Zwolle, 2000, p. 12).They were a powerful tool by which a Prince or King could be seen to encourage new scientific discoveries, thus bestowing on a particular dynasty the reputation of enlightened patronage.
Key to the dominance of Augsburg’s role in the production of such items was Philipp Hainhofer (1578-1647), a scholar, diplomat, connoisseur, collector and art dealer from Augsburg. Hainhofer conceived and commissioned cabinets by the very best craftsmen of Augsburg. Hainhofer’s international connections helped spread the taste for these cabinets across Europe. In 1610 he wrote: ‘Here [in Augsburg] very beautiful Schreibtische are made of ebony, ivory and other woods, with secrets [compartments] or without, which are bought as far afield as Prague, France, Italy and Spain’. Indeed, the Royal and princely inventories of Europe testify that these cabinets were widely valued. See Giusti, W. Koeppe and A. Giusti, Art of the Royal Court: Treasures in Pietre Dure from the Palaces of Europe, New York, 2008, p. 62. His international connections, also contributed to the construction of such pieces. His brother, for example, was based in Florence and is recorded as having supplied pietra dura plaques to Hainhofer.
A small oil painting on copper at the Kunstgewerbemuseum, Berlin by Anton Mozart (see figure above) depicts the presentation of a now lost cabinet to the Duke of Pomerania at Schloss Stettin in 1617. In the painting, the cabinet sits prominently at the center of the composition, Hainhofer and the cabinet maker Ulrich Baumgartner (1580-1652) offer and explain a drawer of the cabinet containing curiosities, to the seated Duke and Duchess. The twenty-seven craftsmen and artists involved in the production of the cabinet stand in the foreground, some holding tools of their trade, as they wait to be presented to their patron. The present lot contains eighteen secret drawers. Such secret drawers were a popular feature of collector’s cabinets. They were included so as to astonish the viewer on seeing the craftsmen’s ingenuity and virtuosity, hence the need to have a demonstration of the cabinet’s particular features when it was acquired.
Three celebrated Kunstkammern commissioned by Hainhofer were executed in the renowned workshop of Ulrich Baumgartner (1580-1652) and his son Melchior (1621-1696). These are the Pommerische Kunstschrank, delivered in 1617 to Duke Philip of Pomerania (now destroyed), the Stipo d'Alemagna, presented in 1628 by Archduke Leopold of Austria to Grand Duke Ferdinand II of Tuscany, now in the Pitti Palace, and a cabinet given to King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden by the City of Augsburg in 1632, now in Uppsala University (D. Alfter, Die Geschichte des Augsburger Kabinettschranks, Augsburg, 1985, pp. 42-57, figs. 33-42).
Many cabinets of this period were veneered in ebony and ivory. The use of a tortoiseshell veneer, seen on the present lot, is much more unusual. For another example of an Augsburg cabinet veneered in tortoiseshell see figure above, a cabinet by Johann Georg Esser (1652-1727) and Wolfbauer, circa 1680-1685 at the Residenz Munich (discussed in G. Hojer and H. Ottomeyer, Die Möbel der Residenz München, Vol. II, Munich, 1996, pp. 82-89, no. 9). The Munich cabinet is conceived in a similar manner to the present lot, of architectural form with an inverted breakfront, and featuring banks of four drawers flanking a central panel depicting a vase of flowers, all interposed by columns.
The bracket feet of the present cabinet bare similarities to those on an ivory and lapis lazuli table cabinet by Melchior Baumgartner commissioned by Maria Anna, wife of Maximilian I, Prince Elector of Bavaria c. 1682 (Bayerisches Nationalmuseum Inv.-Nr. R 2139) and another, also of ivory and lapis lazuli and commissioned by the Bavarian court, c. 1646 at the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum (See M. Riccardi-Cubitt, The Art of the Cabinet, London, 1992, p. 53). A further, related ivory cabinet mounted with columns and pietra dura plaques, attributed to Melchior Baumgartner, was sold The Property of a Private European Collection; Christie's, New York, 14 December 2000, lot 30 (£597,750).
THE PIETRA DURA PLAQUES
The spectacular plaques of this cabinet comprise two distinct types:
Fifteen panels of birds, flowers and fruit
These pietra dura panels were undoubtedly made at the Grand Ducal workshop in Florence, the Opificio delle Pietre Dure. The central panel depicts a lapis lazuli urn of flowers - a favored motif, with plaques of birds on fruiting and flowering branches above and below. These plaques are undoubtedly based on zoological and botanical drawings executed by Jacopo Ligozzi (1547-1627). Ligozzi worked for the Medici court and supplied patterns to the craftsmen at the Florentine Grand Ducal workshop. In the early 1600s Ligozzi’s loving observation of nature introduced a dramatic change in the production of pietra dura panels, the influence of which was felt for many subsequent decades. A related design of birds of paradise perched in a fruit tree, part of a series of ornithological and botanical studies by Ligozzi in the Gabinetto dei Disegni e Stampe at the Uffizi, Florence, is illustrated in Giusti, W. Koeppe and A. Giusti, Art of the Royal Court: Treasures in Pietre Dure from the Palaces of Europe, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2008, p. 170, fig. 116.
Two panels of abstract architectural outline
These panels, situated to the center of each side of the cabinet, relate to a series of panels designed by Ligozzi for the Church of Ognissanti, Florence. The arches around the chapel’s altar are set with panels of hardstone inlay which imitate the flounces and embroidery of altar cloths and appear of abstract architectural outline.