Image

Previous image 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 / 22 Next image

Unknown Maker, German

Writing Desk (Schreibtisch)
Now On View

Description

Maker

Unknown Maker, German

Culture

German

Title

Writing Desk (Schreibtisch)

Year

ca. 1590

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Materials

unidentified softwood

Geography

Place Made: Germany, probably Augsburg

Dimensions

45.1 x 60.6 x 33.3 cm (17 3/4 x 23 7/8 x 13 1/8 inches)

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Anonymous gift

Object Number

75.023

Type

Projects & Publications

Publications

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

European Galleries
Sep 02, 2017

Label copy

This elegant lockable cabinet offered its owner ten drawers for securing valuables and a surface for writing. Its elaborate scenes suggest it was prominently displayed. The fantastical architectural design most likely came from print sources such as Lorenz Stöer’s 1567 Geometria et Perspectiva, subtitled “Herein are a few ruined buildings, useful to cabinetmakers working in inlaid wood.”

Close looking reveals that the maker positioned the woodgrain to enhance the composition. The grain travels across the sky in each scene, and the architectural elements gain height through its vertical placement. The shading on the music sheets on the front interior was achieved by burning those pieces of marquetry in hot sand.

A Case for Boxes
Oct 16, 1980 – Nov 16, 1980

Use & Feedback

Image use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use.

This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

Unknown Maker, German
Writing Desk (Schreibtisch), ca. 1590
Walnut, burled walnut, ebonized walnut, satinwood, pear wood, and pine with iron
45.1 x 60.6 x 33.3 cm (17 3/4 x 23 7/8 x 13 1/8 inches)
Anonymous gift 75.023

To request new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.