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German, Germany, probably Augsburg

Writing Desk (Schreibtisch), ca. 1590

Now On View

Description

Maker

  • Unknown

Culture

German

Title

Writing Desk (Schreibtisch)

Year

ca. 1590

Medium

Walnut, burled walnut, ebonized walnut, satinwood, pear wood, and pine with iron

Materials/Techniques

Materials

  • unidentified softwood

Dimensions

45.1 x 60.6 x 33.3 cm (17 13/16 x 23 7/8 x 13 1/8 inches)

Place

Germany, probably Augsburg

Type

  • Boxes

Credit

Anonymous gift

Object Number

75.023

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

A Case for Boxes

October 16 - November 16, 1980

European Galleries

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.

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 (CC0 1.0). This object is Writing Desk (Schreibtisch) with the accession number of 75.023. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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