{"id":11317,"date":"2025-05-15T14:30:43","date_gmt":"2025-05-15T12:30:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gabrielle-laroche.com\/product\/rare-coffre-alemanique-en-chene-sculpte-et-polychrome\/"},"modified":"2025-05-15T14:44:40","modified_gmt":"2025-05-15T12:44:40","slug":"rare-coffre-alemanique-en-chene-sculpte-et-polychrome","status":"publish","type":"product","link":"https:\/\/www.gabrielle-laroche.com\/en\/product\/rare-coffre-alemanique-en-chene-sculpte-et-polychrome\/","title":{"rendered":"RARE GERMAN CHEST IN CARVED AND POLYCHROMED OAKWOOD"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This ceremonial Chest of German origin, perfectly designed like a piece of architecture, is crafted from oak wood. It is carved and polychromed, with inlaid marquetry using pieces of wood that are partly stained and blackened.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Front<\/strong><\/p>\n The entablature alternates between blackened wood cartouches and frames featuring intarsia with crisscross patterns rendered in perspective.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The chest\u2019s front is arranged in a ternary rhythm. It is punctuated by four uprights adorned with male and female terms in alternating order, resting on columns decorated in varying styles.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Humorously, the keyhole is concealed behind the sliding male head of the third upright.<\/p>\n Between each upright, a rounded arch rests on pilasters adorned with marquetry designs of checkerboard or crisscross patterns, capped with a molded capital. Three-petaled flowers made of inlaid wood embellish the spandrels, topped by a frieze with checkerboard motifs.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The three arched panels, crowned by a scrolled console and a dentil frieze, feature heraldic decorations on backgrounds of cut leather.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n – On the left: Silver three roses gules.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n – In the center: Silver, a sword.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n – On the right: \u201cAzure, a scallop silver shell.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The coats of arms are framed within carved, polychrome floral arabesques, each uniquely painted and topped by a fully sculpted, plumed helm treated in high relief, standing out from the frame like a medallion.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Beneath each coat of arms is a cartouche adorned with scrolls and volutes, bearing names in relief. The first is legible as “Frantze,” while the other two are partially decipherable, beginning with “Re…” and “…Pra…” respectively.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The lower cornice, with its projecting elements, rests on four flattened ball feet.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Sides\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Between two deeply fluted pilasters, an arched vault reveals an architectural scene with a beautifully accentuated perspective, emphasized by a checkerboard-patterned floor. In the spandrels, two celestial motifs play with contrasts of light and shadow, as well as the relief provided by the intarsia.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n At the center of this design is a finely crafted, substantial wrought iron handle, designed to facilitate transport. This reflects the mobility of social life in the era, when the court would frequently relocate from castle to castle.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Historical Context\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Theories of space and principles of perspective, born in Florence in the 15th century, were applied to the art of marquetry through the work of Strasbourg\u2019s cabinetmakers.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n However, additional inspirations contributed to this evolution. The Rhineland regions demonstrated a remarkable ability to assimilate external influences and adapt them to their own aesthetic, religious, and moral concerns.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It was Italy during the Quattrocento that rediscovered the forgotten techniques of intarsia. These techniques served to convey a new vision of space, rooted in the study of perspective, and spread an ornamental repertoire inspired by Imperial Rome.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The study of marquetry decorative themes from the 16th to 17th centuries in Eastern Europe is inseparable from the exploration of the aesthetic sensibilities developed in the Rhineland.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Bibliography<\/strong><\/p>\n LEVY \u2013 COLBENTZ Fran\u00e7oise, Le meuble en Alsace, Centre de Recherches R\u00e9gionales et Rh\u00e9nanes,<\/em> Universit\u00e9 des Sciences Humaines de Strasbourg<\/p>\n [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" <\/p>\n ORIGIN\u00a0: GERMANY \u00a0OR RHENISH VALLEY<\/p>\n PERIOD\u00a0: END OF 16th CENTURY<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Height: 74 cm<\/p>\n Length: 154,5 cm<\/p>\n Depth\u00a0: 69,5 cm<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Polychromed oak wood<\/p>\n Good state of preservation<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n[dt_button size=\"small\" style=\"default\" animation=\"none\" color_mode=\"default\" icon=\"\" icon_align=\"left\" color=\"\" link=\"mailto:gabrielle-laroche@wanadoo.fr?subject=365_RARE_GERMAN_CHEST_IN_CARVED_AND_POLYCHROMED_OAKWOOD\" target_blank=\"true\"]DEMANDE D’INFORMATIONS[\/dt_button]\n <\/p>\nRARE GERMAN CHEST IN CARVED AND POLYCHROMED OAKWOOD<\/h4>\n