David Roentgen workshop, Neuwied, around 1780
Oak body with mahogany veneer, with its original fire-gilt bronze fittings, carrying handle and lock.
The design, dimensions, and layout of this oak veneered mahogany casket are similar to a casket dated around 1785 in the Berlin Museum of Decorative Arts: simple rectangular shape with carrying handle, the body divided by gilt brass strips, bands and profiles, the keyhole uncovered. Inside, an insert closed with a roll-top lid and side pedestal drawers that pop out at the touch of a button as secret compartments.
Between 1755 and 1790, significantly over a hundred different models of the highly popular caskets from the Roentgen workshop are documented. The importance of this item in the workshop's range is demonstrated by the portrait of Susanna Maria Roentgen, wife of Abraham and mother of David Roentgen, in 1772 with a casket made by her husband's hand.
Length: 29.5 cm, width: 16.5 cm, height: 17 cm
Cf.: State Museums, Foundation for the Cultural Heritage of Prussia, Berlin, Arts and Crafts Museum, Inv. 35.93
Dietrich Fabian, “Roentgenmöbel aus Neuwied”, Bad Neustadt 1986, p. 280 ff., esp. figs. 672 and 673
