Sideboard, of cherry with ebonized details, the lower stage with four cupboard doors with three drawers over, the upper stage with concave front showing four glazed doors between two pairs of ebonized attached columns.

Sideboard, of cherry with ebonized details, the lower stage with four cupboard doors with three drawers over, the upper stage with concave front showing four glazed doors between two pairs of ebonized attached columns.
The sideboard is raised on 8 tall, ovoid feet, with reeded decoration. The lower stage shows a slightly bowed front over the central four cupboard doors; the flanking panels show recessed centres, decorated at the top with low relief carvings of pendant bunches of leaves. The doors and the three drawers above them are plainly veneered, with small, plain handles and lockplates of white metal. The top front edge of the lower stage is ebonized. The upper stage is slightly set back, with paired, ebonized columns to either side supporting the plain, stepped frieze and cornice. Between the pairs of colums the four glazed cupboard doors are set back in a concave curve. Each door shows 6 small, glazed panels, with bevelled glass.

This sideboard was designed for the dining-room of the house built for the country house of the Schmidt-Gerstung family at Holskirchen, in Northern Bavaria, Germany in 1910. The magazine Deutsche Kunst & Dekoration in 1913 (vol. XXII), pp. 43 fol. published a view of the dining room, looking through to the sitting room, on p. 191, in an article on the newly completed house
The sideboard was designed by Professor Emanuel Seidl (1856-1919), a succesful architect who specialised in country houses. His early work was in historicist style, but in the early twentieth century he turned to the modern design promoted by the ideas of Art Nouveau. The sideboard was made in the Vereinigte Werkstätten für Kunst im Handwerke (The United Workshops for Arts and Crafts), a company that worked in Munich, Bremen and other German cities between 1898 and 1991. The workshops rejected the ideas of mass production, appreciating craftsmanship, rejecting the traditional historicist traditions. It designs were celebrated for their contribution to everyday life in the International Art Exhibition in Munich in 1897. The firm was formed by architects and designers such as Bruno Paul, Richard Riemerschmid and Hermann Obrist. It provided pieces to wealthy intellectuals and artists and its designs were published in periodicals such as Deutsche Kunst & Dekoration and Innendekoration. In 1900, at the Paris International Exhibition the firm won the Grand Prix. A drawing of the sideboard exists in the archive of the

The sideboard was purchased in 1984 (Registered File 84/488). At that time it was described as 'Generally good, but some pieces chipped or loose - however all the bits seem to be there'.

In the years around 1900 there was a move throughout Europe to abandon the old tradition of designing furniture and other pieces in historical styles. Architects and designers began to seek forms and decorations that had no historical roots. This sideboard reflect the interest in rather plainer forms and restrained decoration that developed in the years before the First World War. The surface is plainly veneered in cherry wood, with decorative elements ebonized to stand out. The decorative elements are confined to the reeded feet and the small leaf motives to either side on the lower part of the sideboard. It was designed by Professor Emanuel Seidl (1856-1919), who became well known in Bavaria for his country house designs. This was designed for the coutnry house of the Schmidt-Gerstund family at Holskirchen in Northern Bavaria. It was made by the Vereinigte Werkstätten für Kunst im Handwerke (The United Workshops for Arts and Crafts), a firm specialising in making pieces to a high degree of craftsmanship. The firm, which won a Grand Prix at the Paris Exhibition in 1900, was founded in 1898 and continued to work until 1991.

W.36:1 to 5-1984