| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 12 parts. - Cabinet
- Cabinet
- Drawer
- Drawer
- Drawer
- Drawer
- Drawer
- Drawer
- Box
- Keys
- Decorative Cone
- Decorative Pyramid
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| Title | Frankfurt Cabinet
(manufacturer's title) |
| Materials and techniques | Bird's-eye maple, maple, burl walnut, walnut, masur birch, and other unidentified woods, with brass, gold leaf, lasa and acosta marble, and Bahia blue granite |
| Brief description | Frankfurt Cabinet, bird's-eye maple and other woods, brass, gold leaf, lasa and acosta marble, designed by Norbert Berghof, Michael Landes, and Wolfgang Rang, made by Draenert Collection, Immenstaad, Germany, 1985-89 |
| Physical description | Frankfurt Cabinet, number 50 of edition of 100. Bird's-eye maple, maple, burl walnut, walnut, masur birch, unidentified woods, brass, gold leaf, lasa and acosta marble, Bahia blue granite, 228 x 75 x 40 cm. |
| Dimensions | - Height: 228cm
- Width: 75cm
- Depth: 40cm
|
| Copy number | Number 50 of edition of 100 |
| Gallery label | - (1999-2001)
- NORBERT BERGHOF (German, born 1949), MICHAEL LANDES (German, born 1948), and WOLFGANG RANG (German, born 1949); made by DRAENERT COLLECTION, Immenstaad, Germany
FRANKFURT CABINET, 1985-89
Bird's-eye maple, maple, burl walnut, walnut, masur birch, unidentified woods, brass, gold leaf, lasa and acosta marble, Bahia blue granite.
Acquired as an example of contemporary design, the Frankfurt Cabinet is a modern example in the long tradition of furniture intended as display object, made of 'exotic' materials and concealing its function beneath its decoration. The cabinet demonstrates the eclectic use of historical sources typical of post-modernism, the most fashionable design style of the 1980s: its light wood and veneered surfaces recall European Biedermeier furniture of the early 19th century; the chess board device and simplified geometry echo early 20th century Viennese patterning; and its asymmetry and rich materials are reminiscent of Art Deco.
*the term 'exotic' is an outdated (and potentially offensive) term. Any contemporary use should be avoided. - (1990)
- FRANKFURT CABINET
Designed by Norbert Berghof, Michael Landes and Wolfgang Rank (West German)
Manufactured by Draenert Collection, Immenstaad, West Germany
Bird's-eye maple, ebony, bruyere, burl, solid maple, bubinga, ivory, horn, brass, gold leaf, lasa and acosta marble, and Bahia blue granite
Designed 1985/6, manufactured 1989 (made to order only)
This lavish drop-front desk is a fine example of an object type with a long tradition in Western Europe: the cabinet as a display object, a type that has not received much attention from progressive designers since World War II. It owes its conception to the recent taste for objects of display that are stylistically progressive rather than traditional.
The cabinet was designed by three architects who, in common with fellow designers of the 1980s, have looked to furniture and architecture of the past for inspiration. While part of the heritage of this cabinet is Central European Biedermeier of the early nineteenth century, the designers have also looked to more recent history,, namely Viennese architect design of 1900, and 1920s and 1930s Art Deco.
Purchase from the manufacturer at a favourable price of £5000
W.14-1989 - (1992)
- This lavish cabinet draws on three of the most common sources of 1980s progressive historicist design. The blond wood and restrained lines recall Central European Biedermeier furniture of the early 19th century, the chequerboard device and simplified geometry echo early 20th-century Viennese patterning and the asymmetry of the piece, with its intricate use of a wide range of foreign materials, has a precedent in the Art Déco style of the 1920s and 1930s.
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| Bibliographic references | - Baker, Malcolm, and Brenda Richardson (eds.), A Grand Design: The Art of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London: V&A Publications, 1999.
- 'Recent acquisitions of furniture and woodwork at the Victoria and Albert Museum'. Burlington Magazine June 1993, vol. CXXXV, no. 1083, pp. 443-448. This item and its pair (W.34-1990) illustrated as item XV.
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