Description
An Impressive 18th Century German inlaid Walnut Bureau Bookcase. The upper section having a broken arch cavetto moulded cornice above a pair of later glazed doors enclosing a velvet lined interior. The sloped fall front inlaid with a crowned monogram encircled by a ring of chequer-work to the centre, flanked by strap-work enhanced with foliate scrolls, opening to reveal stepped pigeon holes with a later baize insert. The base section housing three long serpentine front drawers with further marquetry inlay, standing on squat bun feet, approx 96½” (245 cm) in height, 48½” (123 cm) wide, 29” (74 cm) deep. [Provenance: Believed to have been in the vendor’s family since at least 1905. The piece was a gift from Darmstadt furniture manufacturer Ernst Joseph Trier to his sister, Marie Sichel (who married into the Sichel wine making family, famed for Blue Nun), on condition that it would be returned to him or his descendants on her death. In 1938 the furniture business was confiscated by the Third Reich and Ernst Trier arrested by the Gestapo. He died later that year. It is believed this piece was bought to Britain along with other possessions when Marie and her family fled Germany to avoid further Nazzi repression. She died in London in 1967. The bureau bookcase was returned to Ernst’s son after her passing).