Baroque Period Cabinet, Late 16th Century, Southern Germany, Augsburg, Wood Marquetry

BAROQUE CABINET, LATE 16TH CENTURY, SOUTHERN GERMANY, PROBABLY AUGSBURG In marquetry on all sides of ash, maple, stained wood, rosewood and fruitwood fillets, engraved metal ornamentation, decorated with figures in an architectural landscape animated by imaginary cities and embellished with birds and plants, the flap decorated on the reverse with a central frame depicting a sleeping woman lying down surrounded by a frieze decorated with floral scrolls, the interior with a motif of dogs, deer, foxes, does and birds in an architectural background opening with twelve drawers and four doors, the sides fitted with handles, resting on flattened ball feet. Luxurious travel objects, these cabinets called Schreibsschränke were designed for the curiosity cabinets of wealthy collectors, who exhibited medals, corals or shells there. This cabinet is distinguished above all by its decoration: a clever and meticulous assembly of fine pieces of multiple species of native wood, giving rise to architectural whims, and imaginary geometric constructions defying the laws of natural perspective; if these decorations seem almost surrealist, they are in reality linked to the work of the Bavarian engraver Lorenz Stöer (1537-1621).