Important Cabinet With Three Twisted Columns, Basel, Switzerland, Late 17th Century

Basel twisted column cabinet, late 17th century ------------------------------- Height: 218 cm + 40 cm pinnacle , i.e. 258 cm Width: 190 cm (205 at the cornice) Depth: 68 cm (75 at the cornice) -------------------------- ---- Solid and veneered walnut & veneer marquetry on a fir frame (veneer thickness between 3 and 5 mm). ------------------------------ With two assembled bodies with tongue and groove, mounted on a base and topped with a protruding cornice molding, this cabinet opens with two superbly paneled doors. It is adorned with three twisted columns treated in double symmetry [on either side of the cabinet or on either side of the right door], in hand-carved solid walnut, each resting on a high console. paneled and crowned with a Tuscan capital; the two side columns are each pegged to a cabinet body, while the central column is pegged to the right door. If the body of the cabinet is veneered in wire walnut, the front of the doors and the plinth, as well as the table of all the panels (doors, sides and plinth), are adorned with a marquetry of branched walnut veneer; the cabinetmaker has carefully selected his plates and scalloped his cuts according to the patterns of the wood in order to obtain the homogeneous rendering of a single sheet of veneer - then impossible to cut in these dimensions. The entablature is enriched with figures of putti and fruit baskets alternately. The top of the cornice is adorned with a carved and turned walnut pinnacle. The interior shelves, modern [ca 1980], were made to the model. The two lower shelves are cut out in order to access the base, which has no drawers on the front. Original hinges, hinges, key and lock. The raves are missing. ------------------------------ Bibliography: Stefan Hess, Wolfgang Loescher, Möbel in Basel, Kunst und Handwerk der Schreiner bis 1798, Historisches Museum Basel, 2012. __________________________________________________ The Historical Museum of Basel keeps in its collections a cabinet very similar to ours, called "Meyer zum Pfeil", on which we find the double-paneled doors, the same way of pinnacle and a treatment of similar facade in veneer marquetry. It is adorned with three pinnacles, which is extremely rare, and it has, unlike ours, kept its rave feet [see last photo]