Coniferous wood, walnut, ivory, and pewter
Brunswick, around 1730
The female allegories of the virtues patience and bravery inlaid in ivory may be considered a characteristic of richly executed Brunswick cabinets of the early 18th century. On this cabinet, they are combined with other finely executed ornamental details in engraved ivory and pewter; equally remarkable are the floral carvings engraved in the center of the pilasters. These sculptural ornaments create an aesthetic connection between the capitals of the pilasters and the wide-spreading feet carved as double lion claws. The base of the furniture with the lion claws is unique and gives the cabinet its individual, impressive identity.
The inventory 'Langenstein' has been preserved on the back of the cabinet.
Langenstein manor and castle belonged to Prince Heinrich of Prussia, brother of Frederick the Great. Prince Heinrich sold the estate and the inventory to Maria Antoinette Baroness of Branconi in 1776.
Baroness Branconi was the mistress of Hereditary Prince Karl Wilhelm of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel.
She was considered a great and remarkable personality and was called the most beautiful woman in Germany. She had a close friendship with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Baroness Branconi led an open, social life in Langenstein until her death.
Later, the furniture came to the Rimpau Collection in the Gleimhaus Halberstadt, where it survived all the turmoil of war.
The cabinet is published by Andrea Schneider,
“Braunschweiger Möbel des 18. Jahrhunderts”, Brunswick 2021, page 56-56, no. K 6.
Provenance: Prince Henry of Prussia ; Maria Antoinetta Baroness of Branconi ; Rimpau Collection in the Gleimhaus Museum, Halberstadt.
Height: 240 cm, width: 245 cm, depth: 95 cm