A dressing table by the workshop of Abraham Roentgen
Rosewood, poplar, elm, boxwood, maple and other partially stained, engraved, and black contoured wood veneers on a corpus of oak, spruce, and cherry. Mirror, marbled paper, brass and ormolu mountings (partially later). On tapering curved zoomorphic supports of square section with pronounced knees. The curved apron with a central kneehole. The front separated into a central drawer and two side compartments above two drawers that open via a spring mechanism. The central drawer containing two further drawers. The central compartment in the top can be raised to reveal the mirror, and the two side compartments can also be folded outwards. The fronts of the side compartments decorated with floral garlands suspended from bows and hoops, sans travers. The side faces with still lifes of flowers, foliage, and garden implements. The top with a larger identical still life arranged as in a trompe l'oeil suspended via ribbons from the marquetry of the rim. The compartments and drawers with fine borders of boxwood filets. The straight back veneered but undecorated, intended to be set against a wall. Signed (twice) on the apron behind the central drawer in pencil "Michael Rummer von Handschuhsheim fecit à Neuwied 1772". A horizontal shrinkage crack runs through the central panel of the top, two further cracks to the fronts of the side compartments. H 77.5, W 93, D 59 cm.
Neuwied, Michael Rummer, 1772.
Johann Michael Rummer (1747 - 1821) was born in Handschuhsheim near Heidelberg. The son of a winegrower, his father sent him for an apprenticeship under Abraham Roentgen in 1761. He remained with Roentgen until 1767, mainly learning inlay techniques. Roentgen must have recognised his talent early on, as he took Rummer with him to England, where he stayed for nearly a year with the cabinetmaker Gern in Newcastlehouse. After this, Rummer went to Warsaw at the behest of Prince Polinsky. Following his return, he carried out further commissions for Roentgen - working independently but following Roentgen's instructions. Stadler notes the fact that the present work and three marquetry panels are the only known signed works by Rummer. The unusual marquetry motifs in this piece were reiterated in several other items from Roentgen's workshop, for example three tables listed by Greber, all dated between 1772 and 1780.
Provenance
Fischer-Böhler, Munich.
Restored by Otto v. Mitzlaff, Wächtersbach, 1986.
Private collection, Westphalia.
Literature
Illustrated in Greber, Abraham und David Roentgen. Möbel für Europa, vol. 2, Starnberg 1980, illus. 307 f.
Illustrated in Fabian, Roentgenmöbel aus Neuwied, Bad Neustadt 1986, illus. 77 and b.
Illustrated in Fabian, Abraham und David Roentgen. Das noch aufgefundene Gesamtwerk ihrer Möbel- und Uhrenkunst in Verbindung mit der Uhrmacherfamilie Kinzing in Neuwied. Leben und Werk, Verzeichnis der Werke, Quellen, Bad Neustadt 1996, no. 34.
For more about Rummer, see Stadler, Johann Michael Rummer. Ein Kunsttischler aus Handschuhsheim (1747 - 1821), in Weltkunst 5/2002, p. 734.
Cf. Greber, ibid., illus. 319, 330, 338 and 340, tables with identical inlays.