Lot 193. A German Rococo polychrome-decorated and parcel-gilt commode, Potsdam or Dresden, mid-18th century. Estimate 70,000 — 100,000 USD. Photo: Sotheby's.

height 32 in.; width 52 in.; depth 32 1/2 in. 81 cm; 132 cm; 82.5 cm

Provenance: By repute, Schloss Sanssouci, Potsdam;
Gifted by Frederick the Great to an officer of his Guards in Spandau;
Thence by descent until 1928;
Adolfo Loewi, Venice

Note: With its silver decoration against a pale ground and its distinctive bombé shape, this outstanding commode is a fine example of furniture-making in the German states in the mid-eighteenth century. Juxtaposing rich gilt and silver decoration against a white or cream-colored field was a hallmark of rococo interiors from the Bavarian court at Nymphenburg to Frederick II’s Sanssouci, where master designers and furniture makers such as François de Cuvilliés and Johann Michael Hoppenhaupt created some of the most dazzling and luxurious interiors of eighteenth-century Europe.

Until the reign of Frederick the Great, the Berlin palaces had been furnished in a rather conservative and sober taste. Soon after Frederick's accession, however, he appointed Georg Wenzeslau von Knobelsdorff as superintendent of his palaces and under his leadership, the so-called `Frederican Rococo' evolved, which was developed by Johann August Nahl and Johann Michael Hoppenhaupt. Hoppenhaupt was born in Merseburg and trained in Dresden and Vienna. He arrived in Berlin on Frederick the Great's accession to the Prussian throne. In 1746, Hoppenhaupt replaced Nahl, under whom Hoppenhaupt had worked as a woodcarver, as `Directeur des Ornements'. He decorated Schloss Sanssouci where his greatest achievement was the Music Room.

Hoppenhaupt's designs for interior projects and furniture were engraved by Johann Wilhelm Miel and published in 1751 and 1755. A number of the drawings relate to furniture in the palaces of Potsdam and include commodes that were generally of bold bombé form and carved with floral and foliate motifs. For an engraving by Miel showing a Hoppenhaupt commode related to the present lot with its overall shape and similar feet and mounts, see Heinrich Kreisel, Die Kunst des deutschen Möbels, vol. II, Munich, 1970, fig. 740. A commode by Hoppenhaupt in the royal bedroom and study at Sanssouci with comparable incised gesso decoration and overall exaggerated curves is illustrated ibid., fig. 739. An almost identical commode from the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Lehmann, Fritzlar, Germany, was offered Sotheby’s London, December 2, 2008, lot 117. Even though that commode was considered to be of Dresden manufacture, probably because it hailed from Schloss Moritzburg near Dresden, it was also catalogued as a piece closely related to Hoppenhaupt’s oeuvre. The commode offered here and the Moritzburg commode are almost identical and were without doubt executed by the same craftsman or at least following the same design. Knowing that Hoppenhaupt trained in Dresden, it is possible that these commodes are part of his earliest oeuvre as a designer. It is also possible that these commodes were intended for the same interior or rooms connecting en filade. What makes the present commode particularly rare is its honest and unadulterated condition. The silver and the polychrome decoration all appear original and with proper conservation this piece could be restored to its dazzling glory.