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Description:
Ref: 692JB http://hygra.com/box/692JB 

A magnificent Penwork table cabinet bearing the label of R.Ackermann’s, the only labelled example of this iconic repository’s work we have ever seen. It is decorated with classical scenes, romantic views and stylised flora. It opens up to three long and two short drawers, the whole interior decorated in a similar manner. The quality of the painting is of exceptionally high standard both in execution and composition. Although within the traditions of the genre of neoclassicism, this is a work of art which transcends convention by its sheer energy and exuberance redolent of ancient classical art. Circa 1810.

Origin: UK ;  Circa: 1810 ; Materials: .

Size:  33 cm wide by 19 cm by 32.3 cm: 13  inches wide by 7.5  inches by  12.7  inches.

Condition: good overall; the cabinet has shrunk and warped slightly over the years. It still shuts well but as can be seen there is more of a gap on the top of one of the doors. There is also evidence that the lock, although of the period, has at some point been taken out. The penwork over the lock is of paper, printed with the pattern. The bottom drawer appears to have been restored at some stage of its life. The drawer itself is original, but the decoration must have suffered a catastrophe during its long life. When examined carefully it looks as if the front is covered by a print of the penwork taken from the drawer above. The colour is more faint and the definition slightly less sharp than the original. Slight pitting and wear overall which does not diminish the sharp definition of the work.  Working lock and key; see images.

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Three quarter view showing the beautiful composition.

 This cabinet makes a very bold statement about the time of its creation. 

One cannot ignore it. There is nothing half- hearted or weak about it. Every inch of the decoration is designed and executed with consideration of the whole; and the whole is a masterful small piece which packs a huge impact. On the front, there are bold swirls of flora which frame scenes of classical figures. 

The floral compositions are almost identical. There are also subtle differences as one would expect with hand drawn work. There are also slight variations to allow for the spaces needed to accommodate the central figurative scenes.  English landscape and classical. 

Front view:

The floral framing is an explosion of acanthus leaves bursting out of a stylised pine cone and concluding into bunches of slender tulips, seeds and grapes. The flora is in the neoclassical tradition in that it is made up of ancient motifs and drawn with precision in a formal way. 

Although symmetrical to the design on the opposing door, the pattern swirls robustly and freely, not keeping within the restrains of a particular width. This lifts the work out of the narrow limits of a prescribed genre, into a very lively and vibrant composition. 

The central figures are not mere stylised statues, but look as if they are moving in a landscape where the wind blows and the earth is fecund.

The whole image is of a theatre of delight.

Three quarter view with the lid open showing the richness of the composition all around:

 

Main picture on one of the doors:

 A classical figure of a woman instructing two winged putty. The putty are playing amongst roses. 

On the ground there are symbols of the arts: a lyre, a trumpet and a painter’s palette. 

The woman is most probably meant to be Leto, the mother of the twin gods Apollo and Artemis. 

Their father was Zeus. Here the Gods are in their infancy, a theme repeated throughout the cabinet.

 Leto is often depicted , albeit in a more formal fashion, carrying her two children in ancient Greek iconography.

The symbolism on this is obvious. 

It is baby Bacchus, or Dionysus, the god of wine and revelry, travelling on a goat led by a Bacchante (a follower of Bacchus). 

The vine leaves are a motif often incorporated in Bacchic iconography and the goat symbolises lasciviousness. 

Bacchus and Pan (half goat half man) are part of the same tradition of abandonment. 

Like on the opposite picture, the clothes blowing in the wind suggest an outdoor landscape and movement.

All the drawers are decorated with compositions of robust acanthus leaves, bursting out of a stylised central flower or a classical face. 

The disembodied face is crowned with a palmette and is supported under a draping scarf with another palmette. 

This motif is found both in ancient art and in Renaissance re-interpretations and it was often adopted in neoclassical design.

The insides of the two doors are framed in a much more controlled design of double acanthus leaves, symmetrically arranged. This suits the more restricted space and is in strict neoclassical tradition.

However there is a touch of fancy, in the four double leaves around the central ovals: they look as if they are wings. On top of each oval, there is a classic palmette motif.

The ovals move on from ancient history, to a more recent past. They both depict romantic scenes of water and old buildings. There are boats in both scenes, one with rowing figures. They are redolent of a Gothic medieval past. Perhaps the person who drew them knew the locations, or are the scenes imagined landscapes?

The cabinet with the lid down, showing the structure of the top and the running palmette motif of the lower part of the lid. 

The base is supported by strong brass feet with traces of gilding. They are continuing the theme of the palmette motif. 

The base has a simple pattern of lines (repair in corner) and the upper part is painted with another neoclassical motif, that of the husk and seed.

Detail of top corner. Again with a double acanthus and palmette symmetrically drawn. The upper part is drawn with acanthus leaves forming cornucopias in a flowing continuous pattern which contrasts with the static nature of the lower pattern. 

Both designs benefit from their being juxtaposed.

Detail of inside of one door with medieval castle. The scene depicts a castle which dominates the composition, jutting into the waters of a lake. A bridge is drawn on the far side suggesting a connection to some other part of the land. On the near side there is suggestion of dry land with a tree partially visible and grasses lower down. A figure in a small boat looks as if he is about to row to the castle across the water.

Detail of other door, with Gothic building, boats, mountains and melancholy sky. This scene captures the mood of the early 19th century romanticism. The mountains look quite rocky without any evidence of vegetation. A solitary figure sits in a small boat at the far end of the water, while nearer the front two figures, man and boy are rowing towards a small building with two arches and a pointed steeple? Three steps run down the mountain side to the water. Is this a shrine? The landscape looks quite forbidding and the dominating sky-scape slightly grim. 

Open drawer lined with original paper.

Both the top drawers bear the label of Ackermann’s.

Both the top drawers bear the label of Ackermann’s.

The faded pink paper is original.

The turned pull handle was added after the label.

 

The faded pink paper is original.

The central figures are not mere stylised statues, but look as if they are moving in a landscape where the wind blows and the earth is fecund.

The whole image is of a theatre of delight.

 

A magnificent riot of organised, yet vigorous flora. The top is painted with acanthus leaves around bunches of grapes. 

The centre is decorated with a robust sunflower out of which burst acanthus and seeds, wheat heads laurel leaves and flowers. The two symmetrical sides meet in the centre on either side of a double palmette.

The other side: 

Another riotous expression of neoclassical flora: The centre starts off as a stylised flower and concludes in a frame of acanthus leaves, which look like the outer leaves of the flower. The top features the same acanthus-grape motif as on the other side. 

The central flower is surrounded by another explosion of robust acanthus leaves intermingled with myrtle and honeysuckle flowers. 

It is a similar composition as that of the opposite side, but different in the choice of flora (with the exception of the iconic acanthus) and the arrangement.

A romantic scene framed by stylised acanthus in pairs on the two sides. The acanthus leaves are arranged so they metamorphose into flowers with a central stamen shedding seeds over the lower acanthus. The last “flower” looks still in bud. A play in art. 

There are grapes cupped in leaves on the top and elongated leaves (palms?) on the bottom. 

The frame is in a very pure neoclassical design, not only in the choice of visual motifs, but also in the symmetrical controlled arrangement. 

In contrast, the scene in the centre is in the romantic tradition, with a hint of the exotic, which was beginning to capture the imagination of the hitherto classically-minded erudite connoisseurs. 

 The view is of a lakeside. Water, mountains and a harsh upright rock, dominate the landscape. 

On the right hand side two exotically dressed figures gaze across the water at a group of buildings. There are modest sloping roofs, spires, towers and domes. It suggests a land far away into the East. 

Near the figures there is what looks like an entrance to a ford, the arched gateway flanked by spire-topped towers. There are signs of vegetation at the front and large trees behind the gateway. 

This is either an imaginary land of myth, or an interpretation of a scene witnessed during the “grand tour” by one of the braver 
travellers who ventured as far as the Middle East. 

Stepped with a concave cavetto and then a sloping frame decorated with static and then swirling acanthus, the central picture is an interpretation of Olympian deities through the prism of the romantic sensibilities of the late 18th early 19th centuries. 

Five baby putti are disporting themselves outdoors. The putti are actually Olympian Gods in childhood. They all carry the symbols of their particular divinity, which allows us to identify them. 

Left to right: Apollo with his lyre, Pan with his panpipes, Ares with his spear, Dionysus with his grapes and Eros with his bow and arrow.

The underside is covered with the original blue paper.

Foot: 

this form of curling palmette, looks almost like feathers and is reminiscent of the type of curling leaves found on the crown of helmets in the iconography of ancient Greece.

Detail showing the palmette and the two types of arrangement, static and swirling, of the acanthus leaf.

The bottom drawer appears to have been restored at some stage of its life. 

The drawer itself is original, but the decoration must have suffered a catastrophe during its long life. 

When examined carefully it looks as if the front is covered by a print of the penwork taken from the drawer above. 

The colour is more faint and the definition slightly less sharp than the original.

 

The insides of the two doors are framed in a much more controlled design of double acanthus leaves, symmetrically arranged. This suits the more restricted space and is in strict neoclassical tradition. However there is a touch of fancy, in the four double 
leaves around the central ovals: they look as if they are wings. On top of each oval, there is a classic palmette motif. 

The ovals move on from ancient history, to a more recent past. 

The paintings both depict romantic scenes of water and old buildings. There are boats in both scenes, one with rowing figures. They are redolent of a Gothic medieval past. 

Perhaps the person who drew them knew the locations, or are the scenes imagined landscapes?

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