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Writing cabinet
  • Writing cabinet
    Kümmel, Michael, born 1715 - died 1794
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Writing cabinet

  • Place of origin:

    Dresden, Germany (possibly, made)

  • Date:

    1750-1755 (made)

  • Artist/Maker:

    Kümmel, Michael, born 1715 - died 1794 (possibly, maker)

  • Materials and Techniques:

    Veneered in kingwood, with marquetry including mother-of-pearl, ivory and brass, on a carcase of pine and stained birch; mounts of gilt bronze and gilded wood

  • Credit Line:

    Purchased by H.M. Government from the estate of the 6th Earl of Rosebery and allocated to the Victoria and Albert Museum

  • Museum number:

    W.63-1977

  • Gallery location:

    In Storage

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No specialist knowledge is required to appreciate the elegance and luxury of this writing cabinet. The carefully controlled curves of its shape and ornament are a perfect example of the German Rococo style of the 1750s. The sophistication of the choice of materials and of the worksmanship produces great delicacy of decoration on what is, in form, a massive cabinet.

A cipher ‘AR’ at the top of the bank of drawers inside shows that it was made for Frederick Augustus, who succeeded his father as Elector of Saxony in 1733 and was elected King of Poland in 1734. His court at Dresden competed with Paris as a centre of the luxury trades. We do not know who made the cabinet, although the names of Michael Kümmel (or Kimmel) and of Johan Christoph Hesse have both been put forward.

Physical description

A two-tiered writing cabinet, the lower tier with a sloping, hinged writing surface enclosing drawers, above four long drawers, the top tier with two doors enclosing drawers and pigeonholes; the exterior shows rich marquetry and gilt bronze mounts in Rococo style

Place of Origin

Dresden, Germany (possibly, made)

Date

1750-1755 (made)

Artist/maker

Kümmel, Michael, born 1715 - died 1794 (possibly, maker)

Materials and Techniques

Veneered in kingwood, with marquetry including mother-of-pearl, ivory and brass, on a carcase of pine and stained birch; mounts of gilt bronze and gilded wood

Marks and inscriptions

7

Dimensions

Height: 2500 mm, Width: 1450 mm, Depth: 830 mm

Object history note

In the collections at Mentmore Towers, Buckinghamshire before 1977.

Gisela Haase claims that this cabinet was in Schloss Hubertusburg, the hunting lodge of the Polish Elector-King Friedrich August II until 1760.

Descriptive line

Writing cabinet veneered in kingwood, with marquetry of mother-of-pearl, ivory and brass on a carcase of pine and stained birch; the cabinet is mounted in gilt bronze and with giltwood, the carving incorporating the cipher of Augustus III

Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)

Gilbert, Christopher and Murdoch, Tessa eds., John Channon and brass-inlaid furniture 1730-1760. New Haven and London, Yale University Press, in association with Leeds City Art Galleries and the Victoria and Albert Museum, 1993. ISBN 0-300-05812-8, fig. 21.

Labels and date

[Label text by Peter Thornton]
Bureau
German; about 1750
Veneered with kingwood inlaid with mother-of-pearl, ivory and brass and decorated with ormolu mounts

Made for Augustus III, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony, and attributed to the cabinet-maker Christian Friderich Lehmann

Bought by the Baron Mayer de Rothschild in 1835. It has formed part of the furnishings of Mentmore Towers, Buckinghamshire, since the 1850s.

Museum No. W.63-1977 [1980]

Materials

Ivory; Brass; Mother-of-pearl; Pine; Gilt bronze; Birch; Kingwood

Techniques

Marquetry

Categories

Furniture

Collection code

FWK

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Qr_O74665
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