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Lot 857
A South German ormolu-mounted cherrywood architects table
Estimated Value:
10.000 € - 15.000 €
Schätzpreis:
26.000 €
Description:
By Johann Michael Rummer, Schwetzingen, 1785/179085 x 104 x 70 cm
The rectangular ratcheted twin flap top with adjustable book stop above a frieze drawer, enclosing a fitted interior with black velt lined writing surface above six drawers to the back and two adjustable compartments to the front, each with two drawers above a central kneehole, flanked by two drawers, on square tapering legs with coin moulding, on toupie feet. Indistictly inscribed to the interior. Min. rest.
Lit. Möbel a la Roentgen, Christine Cornet und Bernd Wilscheid, Neuwied, 2023, S. 242, 243 mit Abb.
With its double-hinged adjustable top and the classical frieze drawer, fitted with a writing surface and with two sliding compartments, this superb architect’s table is a perfect example of the Roentgen legacy, combining exacting quality of construction and design with finely chased gilt-bronze mounts.
On his early travels to England, Abraham Roentgen recognised the possibilities of this architect’s table’s unique design. He added it to the repertoire of the Roentgen workshop where it was subsequently refined over the years. Many of these superb tables found their way into the royal palaces of Europe and beyond.
When the famous Roentgen workshop in Neuwied closed in the late 18th century, David Roentgen assigned his most talented assistants to German and European courts, including Wuerttemberg, Berlin, Weimar, Schwetzingen and Braunschweig, but also further afield, such as St Petersburg. These assistants continued to work in the style of the Roentgen workshop but also developed their own style, which they combined with the technical and artisanal skills they had learned in the Roentgen workshop.
The present table can be identified as a late work of Johann Michael Rummer, one of the famous marqueteurs in the Roentgen workshop, who was responsible for many superb marquetry panels. Rummer was later based in Schwetzingen, working for the Palatine Prince Elector Charles Theodore. The present table shows the high technical standards of the Roentgen workshop combined with decorations of finely gilt bronze mounts. It is part of Rummer’s later work, made from local cherrywood and with coin mouldings in the square tapering legs - very typical for Rummer - with striking shoulder mouldings (see: Moebel a la Roentgen, Christine Cornet and Bernd Willscheid, Neuwied 2023, p. 242, 243).
For a table comparable to the present lot, see Christie’s New York, 19 October 2022 and 10 June 2004, lot 118.
