Biedermeier work table veneered with birch, with interior compartments of various sizes and fittings. Carcase of pine. German, ca. 1832-1835.

Birch-veneered work table of rectangular shape with canted corners, on four strongly splayed and tapering legs. The top inlaid with small, light-coloured banding (box-wood?) and centred with an inlaid ovoid medallion of highly figured wood, possibly bird's-eye maple. The front of the carcase centred with a decorative gilt-metal keyhole plate. Carcase and legs of pine or fruitwood.
The lid is hinged to the bottom section and can be pulled open. It contains a removable rectangular looking-glass in a birch-veneer frame with square ebonised corners and one small turned ivory knob-handle, held in place by a small brass hinge. The inside of the lid is stained a deep red.
The interior of the table is lined partially with tourquise-blue velvet and is fitted with four lidded compartments of various sizes, the lids stained with mahogany-colour stain and featuring turned ivory handles. Furthermore containing sewing utensils, including a pincushion, four containers with lids, two bottles with lids, a decanter with stopper, 7 bobbins, a glass, and a decorated porcelain cup and saucer.

This table was probably made in mid or eastern Germany, possibly in the area around Saxony. The table contains a porcelain cup and saucer stamped "Lippert & Haas in Schlaggenwald" (Bohemia), apparently active between 1832 and 1846, and it is likely that relatively local goods would have been used to fit out the table. Also, the use of birch veneer on the carcase, although favoured in many parts of the country, and the unremarkable quality of the cabinet work may support such an attribution.
The table is dated by apparently original porcelain fittings with figurative scenes portraying fashions dating to ca. 1830-1835; however, the style of he table is pure Biedermeier and the table is as plain as a piece of 1815-1820 might be.

Attribution note: The veneer of the table top is about 1mm thick, the veneer of the legs about 2mm. Could this indicate that the veneer on the top of the table was machine-cut while the thicker veneer on the legs was hand-cut?

The legs appear stuck on - rather than dowelled - to the table (seen from below), with traces of a yellowish glue being apparent where legs and carcase join.
Cabinet-work, fittings and materials used are of relatively inferior quality, and the porcelain appears of tourist-nature.

W.11:2-1971