Dalva Brothers Antiques, Antique Furniture, New York

French 18th century furniture, clocks, lighting, paintings, porcelain, sculpture and tapestries

 

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North German Baroque two-door cabinet
 

Large North German baroque carved and veneered walnut cabinet. The two doors are richly carved with allegorical figures such as Justice (with a sword and scales), Charity (holding a nest where a mother pelican is feeding the nestlings with her own blood), and Prudence (with a mirror and a snake) arranged around an unusual faceted diamond shaped cartouche. A female figure on an outside pilaster portrays a woman holding an anchor, probably a reference to the commerce of one of the Baltic trading cities Hamburg or Danzig. The piece is crested with a male figure astride a lion; the lion is found on the Danzig coat of arms. [Raised on later hexagonal bun feet. Some small pieces of the sculpture are missing.]

The piece has an old painted inventory mark in the interior: “#6 IR”, as well as a later inventory mark: “PPI - 166”. There is also part of a paper label identifying the cabinet as a “Danziger Kass” and an indecipherable name, possibly an owner

A seemingly identical cabinet, possibly the pendant, carved with different allegorical figures and with the female crest figure facing in the opposite direction, is in the Collezione Pollitzer in Trieste. Illustrated: Mobili Tedeschi; Gorlich, Milan, 1969. Page 69

Height (ins.): 100 (254 cm)      Length/Width (ins.): 105 (267 cm)      Depth (ins.): 38 (96.5 cm)
Origin: Germany     Period: Baroque

 

 

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