Set of Four Side Chairs

Circle of the workshop of David Roentgen

Neuwied, circa 1793.

Cherry tree wood, solid.

Height: 99 cm (39 inch)
Width: 51 cm (20.1 inch)
Depth: 39 cm (15.4 inch)
Seating height: 45 cm (17.7 inch) Ref No: 1928

Provenance: Private Collection Sweden, 1920s

The chairs in the style of late German classicism are probably from the workshop or the immediate circle of the cabinetmaker David Roentgen (1743-1807) in Neuwied. They are not made of mahogany, as usual in the Roentgen workshop, but in cherry wood, with the typical ornamentation of disc rosettes, wood channeling and strips of wooden milleraies.

The production of seating furniture was never a substantial output of the Roentgen workshop. Only in the 1970s an armchair by David Roentgen was published by Greber[1] for the first time, which has certain similarites in the decor to this set (but made of gilt bronze). Furthermore an armchair from Neuwied, which belonged originally to the furnishings of the summer residence of the Dukes of Wied, the Palace Monrepos[2], corresponds to this set in design, wood and construction (see illustration).

The four chairs also relate in the selection of the wood, the craftsmanship and the porportions to the Remy’schen writing cabinet of Johann Klinckerfuß (1770-1831)[3]. Klinckerfuß was one of the most talented pupils at the Roentgen workshop between 1788 and 1793 before he set up his own workshop.

Literature

  • Büttner, Andreas und Bernd Willscheid (Hrsg.), Nützlich zu sein und gutes zu stiften, Roentgen-Möbel für das Gartenreich Wörlitz-Dessau und Neuwied als Vorreiter der Aufklärung, exhibition catalogue, Neuwied/Wörlitz, 2006.
  • Büttner, Weber-Woelk, Willscheid (Hrsg.), Edle Möbel für höchste Kreise, Roentgens Meisterwerke für Europas Höfe, exhibition catalogue, Neuwied, 2007.
  • Greber, Josef Maria, Abraham und David Roentgen, Möbel für Europa, vol. I and II, Starnberg, 1980.
  • Wiese, Wolfgang, Johannes Klinckerfuß, Ein württembergischer Ebenist, 1770-1831, Sigmaringen, 1988.
  • Wiese, Wolfgang, Der Remy’sche Schreibsekretär, Karlsruhe, 2011

[1] Greber, vol. I, illustration page 255
[2] Büttner/Willscheid, illustration 87
[3] collection of the Germanisches Nationalmuseum Nürnberg