A Neoclassical "Universal-Necessaire" on stand
Mahogany veneer on softwood corpus, sandalwood, gilt bronze/brass mountings, gouache on paper framed under glass, blue silk lining. The lid inset with a gouache miniature of a sacrificial scene inscribed "EWIGE DAUER DEINER GESUNDHEIT" (may your health last forever). The inside of the lid upholstered. The upper compartment with a gold spool, beside it a drawer and four compartments, the front compartment with a removable embroidery frame. The lower four corners fitted with ram's head appliques. The stand formed from a fluted column on four supports terminating in paw feet with casters, the spaces between the legs with relief mascaron plaques. The lower drawer with a small label from the previous owner. Box H 18, W 26, D 21 cm, with stand H 78, W c. 60, D c. 60 cm.
Stuttgart, Johannes Klinkerfuß, around 1795/1800, the gouache attributed to Johann Baptist Seele (1774 - 1814).
"With this piece, the cabinetmaker created a characteristic early work with an idiosyncratic combination of tripod support and container". (Wolfgang Wiese, op. cit., p. 80)
An identical box (but not the same piece) is described in detail in the January 1794 issue of "Journal des Luxus und der Moden", under "Ameublement. Ein Arbeits=Magazin für Damen.", as "an exceedingly pretty, comfortable and compendieuses meuble [...] which satisfies all the working needs of her beautiful hands, and which one might call a universal necessaire for a lady's room. It is a complete working box, and can also be transformed into an embroidery frame or a drawing table. All three pieces have a common base on which they can be placed according to need." The functions are explained individually below.
Provenance
Formerly the possession of Baroness Augusta of Putlitz, née Baroness von Dietrich.
Literature
Illus. in Kreisel, Die Kunst des deutschen Möbels III, Munich 1973, illus. 279.
Cf. an almost identical stand in Wiese, Johannes Klinckerfuß. ein württembergischer Ebenist (1770 - 1831), Sigmaringen 1988, illus. 16 and Abb. 51, s.a. p. 79, under "f, Verschiedene kleine Kastenmöbel", this piece probably under "M5".
Cf. also the entry in Journal des Luxus und der Moden, January 1794, p. 62 ff.