A magnificent Augsburg carved ivory coffer
Ivory, tortoiseshell, ebony, and burr walnut veneers on walnut, softwood and oak corpus, mounted with silver plated copper, brass, agate, carnelian, faceted and coloured glass, with a textile and velvet lining. Rectangular box with hinged lid and gable with hinged compartments on a stepped base with one drawer. Fitted with ivory panels throughout, those in turn inlaid with agate plaques and carnelian and faceted glass cabochons in bezel settings. The angles with silver plated mouldings. Five oval ivory medallions engraved with chinoiserie landscapes. The front and back with two shell niches on either side with tortoiseshell veneer. The lock plates finely engraved with chimaeras. Some appliques replaced or dented, some cracks to the ivory. H 27, W 32, D 23 cm.
Attributed to Melchior Baumgartner, 2nd half 17th C.
The form of this box is based on that used for the small ivory cabinets produced in Augsburg in the 17th century which Dieter Alfter has published under the descriptive term "Trüchlein". Three of these table cabinets are today housed in Sweden, one in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London (inv. no. W-60-1923), and one in the Umeleckoprumyslové Museum in Prague (inv. no. 16-256). Many of these were recently attributed to the Augsburg cabinetmaker Melchior Baumgartner (1621 - 1686)
Provenance
Private collection, Copenhagen.
Literature
Cf. Alfter, Die Geschichte des Augsburger Kabinettschranks, Augsburg 1986, no. 34 ff.