RICHLY INLAID CABINET Southern Germany, probably Augsburg, mid- to late 16th century. The inlays inspired by design s by Lorenz Stöer (before 1555–after 1599).

RICHLY INLAID CABINET

Southern Germany, probably Augsburg, mid- to late 16th century. The inlays inspired by design s by Lorenz Stöer (before 1555–after 1599).
Walnut, maple, citronwood, plumwood and various fruitwoods, partly ebonized and stained, the front richly inlaid with architectural and ruin capriccios overgrown with fruit branches, within rectangular reserves with geometric stringing. Rectangular body with a pair of doors. The fitted interior with ten drawers, two doors and a central pair of doors, all framed by ebonized ripple mouldings. The drawer and door fronts likewise richly inlaid with fantastical architectural and town views. The inner side doors opening to reveal large compartments. The insides of the outer doors inlaid with scrollwork, a book, drum and violin within trompe-l’œil architectural frames. The top similarly inlaid with armour and a drum. Engraved and partly gilt mounts and locks. Gilt drawer pulls in the form of masks and gilt iron carrying handles to the sides. 4 keys. On a later ebonized stand with twisted supports.
95.5 × 42 × 63 cm. With stand: 108 × 48.5 × 143.5 cm.
A few cracks and signs of use.

Such richly inlaid cabinets are characteristic of Southern Germany, particularly Augsburg, and rank among the most impressive creations of the German Renaissance. They were designed for the prestigious storage of precious objects and combined the highest standards of cabinetmaking with humanist learning. Typical features include the architecturally articulated façade, the numerous drawers and compartments of varying sizes, and the elaborate inlays executed in stained woods.

The present example is a particularly impressive representative of this type and can be associated with a small group of closely related cabinets. An almost identical cabinet with the same arrangement of compartments and identical ring handles is in the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg (inv. no. 1970.121), although it differs in having a hinged cover and lacking the black ripple mouldings. Another, almost identical example was sold at Christie’s in London on 11 November 2004 (lot 23). It not only has the same interior arrangement, but also features iconographically corresponding inlaid scenes on the drawer fronts, suggesting that the same sources were used.

The inlays depict fantastical architectural compositions with classically inspired ruins, columns, triumphal arches and complex perspectival structures. They follow the tradition of the architectural capriccios of Lorenz Stöer, particularly his "Geometria et Perspectiva" of 1567 (cf. Georg Himmelheber, "Kabinettschränke", Bayerisches Nationalmuseum München 1977, pp. 10–25), while also drawing on the series of engravings of Roman monuments disseminated by Hieronymus Cock.