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Lot 1128 - A206 Decorative Arts - Thursday, 21. September 2023, 10.00 AM

FINE AND RARE GAMES BOX FOR CHESS AND TRICTRAC WITH INLAYS IN RELIEF

Free imperial city of Eger (today's Czech Republic), mid-17th century. Probably by the workshop of Samuel Eck (1604-1664).
Pine wood, walnut, burlwood and other in part tinted domestic hardwoods, carved, punched and in part inlaid in relief. Square, hinged case, the side walls carved with flame moldings. The lid with a reserve surrounded by flame moldings, and inlaid with a multi-figure depiction in front of a mountainous landscape with a fortified city, Abigail asking King David for forgiveness (1. Book of Samuel 25:1-43). The edge of the lid is decorated with flowers in relief. The back with a corresponding frame, the center with a chessboard, inlaid with flowers and fruit motifs. Inside, the lids inlaid with a trictrac playing field in the form of obelisks with standards and dolphins on spheres. Gilt metal clasp and hinges, finely engraved with laurel wreaths and meandering friezes.
52.5 × 52.5 cm.

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Provenienz:
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Light scratches and signs of use, somewhat faded. One flame molding replaced.

Provenance: Swiss private collection, purchased in the English trade in 1989.

Relief inlays or inlays, which show a plastic dimension in addition to the flat one, are a special feature of the workshops from the free imperial city of Eger (today's Czech Republic). Wood of different thicknesses was used, carved in relief, sometimes dyed and assembled into inlaid pictures. Wonderful caskets, game boxes and small cabinets were created, which enjoyed great popularity among the European nobility and at the courts. Such relief inlays are considered to be the sole distinguishing feature of the work of the Cheb workshops, such that the name "Cheb cabinets" or "Cheb boxes" became established for them.
A comparable game box is illustrated at: Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien. Worlds of Art. Art chamber games. The main picture on that box shows the rescue of Andromeda by Preseus from Ovid's Metamorphoses. It is assumed that such mythological or biblical scenes as on the lid of this game box were also the subject of knowledge games, which enjoyed great popularity in the 17th and 18th centuries. The model for the depiction of Abigail with King David goes back to an engraving by Royaumont Sébastien Leclerc (1637 - 1714).


CHF 10 000 / 15 000 | (€ 10 310 / 15 460)

Sold for CHF 37 500 (including buyer’s premium)
All information is subject to change.