Universitätsbibliothek HeidelbergUniversitätsbibliothek Heidelberg
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International studio — 80.1925

DOI issue:
Nr. 333 (February 1925)
DOI article:
Baxter, Leonora R.: Art in everyday live
DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.19984#0163

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yellows. The same velvet is used in mounting the back of
the screen. These panels are from the collection of Charles
M. Ffoulke of Washington, who had, by the way, the first
important American collection of tapestries and embroid-
eries. The frame is of walnut, in Queen Anne style, and
the hinges are hand wrought metal. The scarcity of fine
old embroidered panels in good condition, and particularly
in a set, such as these, makes this screen particularly
desirable.

sterling silver meat platter
Courtesy of Pyms & Co.

rhe illustration is of an exceptionally fine chest of
drawers of the William and Mary period. Dutch
influence that prevailed in England during the seven-
teenth century naturally resulted in marquetry coming
into high favor and in many instances the work of the
cabinet-maker shows the combined art of the two coun-
tries. This piece is very simple in outline, as typical of the
period, but is elaborately decorated. The top is inlaid with
lour corner scroll-designs and a center adornment of birds
and foliage in ebony and laburnum upon a ground of holly
wood. The feet are restorations, and the dimensions are
fairly typical of the era, being three feet four inches high,
three and a half feet wide, and one foot two inches deep.
Fountain & Ellerm plucked this chest from the collection
of one Fenton, a seventeenth-century Straffordshire poet
who seems to have spent his spare time gathering speci-
mens of arts other than his own. In excellent condition
and color, this chest would be a valuable acquisition to anv
collector of English furniture.

/taly, as well, contributes beautiful examples of mar-
quetry. Of all furniture used in the Italian medieval
interior, the chest and cabinet were of the greatest
importance and fulfilled numerous functions. It was not
uncommon to find ten or more belonging to one household,
and from some of the old inventories we learn that often

T Tnusual and beautiful relics of the long ago are being
/ / rapidly absorbed by appreciative Americans and
pieces of exceptional interest are no longer easily
found. Literature could scarcely tell a more fascinating
tale of old England than is conveyed by these sturdy meat
platters. They are from the collection of the Princess
Mecklinberg-Strelitz-Schwerin, who was first cousin to
Queen Victoria and grandmother of the present Queen
Mary of England, and are now in the possession of Pyms
& Company. The Princess once paid a visit of more than
twenty years to Victoria, and during her sojourn at Buck-
ingham Palace her platters were in constant use, bearing
precious cargoes to the hungry nobles. Made in 1742, of
solid silver, they are engraved with the crown and the
letter "G," which stands for the family name of the royal
house of England. Marked with many signs of human
usage, and mellowed by intriguing history, they are yet
ready to render endless service, giving more than a hint of
their lofty associations.

an italian cabinet
Courtesy of Ella G. Menko

as many as fifty were included among the possessions of a
patrician family. Most of those surviving from the four-
teenth and fifteenth centuries show a great variety of deco-
rative treatment, inlay and intarsia being generally pre-
ferred to enrich the surfaces of the finer examples. The
cabinet illustrated was recently brought from Italy by
Etta G. Menko, and can be seen in her studio. It is
fifteenth-century, of natural walnut, and shows an inter-
esting combination of carving and marquetry, of delicate
and detailed design, done in warm and beautiful tones of
exotic woods, which covers all the plain surfaces of the
cabinet. In shape and size it is extremely adaptable and
would be a charming bit of color in any room. The
illustration, taken from the best photograph available,
unfortunately does not give any adequate presentation

<yuLiKi « P„ of the beautiful detail both in carving and inlay.

Courtesy of Fountain & Mterm o j

marquetry chest OF drawers

FEBRUARY I 9 2 j

/our twenty-three
 
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