A Flemish oak parquetry and marquetry two-door cupboard, probably Mechelen, second half 19th C.

A Flemish oak parquetry and marquetry two-door cupboard, probably Mechelen, second half 19th C. H 120 - L 143 - D 63 cm The later rectangular moulded top above a shaped long frieze drawer inlaid with scrolling foliage and fantastic griffins, centred and flanked by lion masks, above as pair of doors with arched panels inlaid with architectural town-scenes, centred and flanked by scrolling volutes headed by draped busts and terminating in claw feet, enclosing a plain interior with a shelf, the inverted breakfront base on a moulded base and on later bun feet, possibly previously with a superstructure. This ‘Renaissance' cabinet, designed in the romantic antiquarian manner of the 1870s, incorporates a marquetry panel of 16th-century style, depicting a woman fetching water within the ruins of a triumphal-arched courtyard. Such scenes were popularized by Augsburg engravings in the manner of those issued by Lorenzo Stoer in 1567, entitled 'Geometria et Perspectiva'. Patterns for related cabinets are illustrated in G. Himmelheber, Deutsche Mobelvorlagen, 1800-1900, Munich, 1988, pp. 153-154. Provenance: - Christie's, Kasteel van Rumbeke, Rumbeke (Kortrijk) , Belgium, The property and stock in trade of Mr. Erik Loncke, 20-23 May 1997, lot 1561.