Desk with display cabinet, neoclassical-rococo transition. Holland, second half of the 18th century. Oak interior. Walnut exterior with marquetry.

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19th & 20th Century Contemporary Art - Select...

By Setdart Auction House

Jun 17, 2021

Set Reminder 2021-06-17 06:15:00 2021-06-17 06:15:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : 19th & 20th Century Contemporary Art - Select Lots https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/setdart-auction-house/19th-20th-century-contemporary-art---select-lots-7081
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• Lot Description
  Desk with display cabinet, neoclassical-rococo transition. Holland, second half of the 18th century. Oak interior. Walnut exterior with marquetry. Measurements: 240 x 145 x 70 cm. This exuberant desk with showcase has an oak core and walnut veneer exterior, decorated with profuse marquetry, a defining aspect of 18th century Dutch furniture, heir to a long tradition of quality. It consists of a sinuous profile that determines an elevation based on concavities and convexities, typically rococo, although some decorative details, such as the top or the pilasters inside the sample, allow contextualizing the piece in an advanced rococo, close to neoclassical. The piece of furniture is composed of two markedly differentiated bodies: the lower one, elevated on large feet carved in the form of a feline claw, has a mixtilinear profile and a waist decorated with rocaille. It has four continuous drawers, decreasing in height, that occupy the entire front, all with central locks and bronze handles with chiseled details in relief. Above them rests a desk sample, with a hinged lid that hides inside drawers and spaces to house the desk utensils. The arrangement of this space, with decorative pilasters and a rigorous symmetry, denote the neoclassical search by the cabinetmaker. The cabinet is completed by a glazed showcase (rear glass), with corner pieces decorated with pilasters, again an approach to the new neoclassical style. The glass is defined by mixtilinear moldings. The piece of furniture is crowned by a truncated mixtilinear top, of deep baroque inspiration, although close to neoclassicism for its decorative motifs, such as the central vase of classical inspiration. Both the drawers and the sides, the legs and the upper body present an elaborate ornamentation made with marquetry, based on floral, animal and baroque motifs. Classical marquetry was widely used during the Rococo period, since in the cabinetmaking of this time the furniture was conceived as a large decorative surface, even going so far as to conceal the cuts of the drawers or other parts of the structure. As a result, large smooth surfaces made it possible to develop large marquetry designs in a classical procedure. In this case, a very high degree of pictorialism has been achieved, continuing the usual floral motifs of Rococo cabinetmaking. This marquetry appears not only in the main planes of the cabinet, but also in the panels, moldings and even in the columns that support the upper showcase.
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