9124 A ROYAL PAINTED CORNER CABINET ATTRIBUTED TO JOSEPHUS MOY

9124 A ROYAL PAINTED CORNER CABINET ATTRIBUTED TO JOSEPHUS MOY Probably Franconian. Circa 1760. Measurements: Height: 88 1/2″ (225cm) Width: 35 3/4″ (91cm) Depth: 24 3/4″ (63cm)

Of deal, retaining its original polychrome painted decoration. The shaped cornice above the pylon shaped upper section with a glazed door opening to reveal an interior fitted with four shelves, the bow-fronted lower section with a conforming frieze fitted with a single drawer above a door centered by a cartouche filled with a bucolic rococo scene, the whole raised on three turned bun feet. Minor restorations.

Provenance:
Family of the Princes zu Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg, at Schloss Bronnbach

This unusual and important polychrome painted corner display cabinet was once en suite with a very similarly dated and decorated bureau signed ‘par Moy, 1760’, and it is, therefore, an exceptionally rare example of a piece of royal German furniture that can be attributed to a particular maker with confidence.

It is assumed that the signature belongs to Josephus Moy, who in 1758, is known to have decorated the choir in the Church of Mögling in Brandenburg, Germany, with a fresco of the Birth of the Virgin Mary.

The highly original ‘abstract leaf’ pattern decoration must have been very avant garde at the time as it appears to anticipate fabric designs of the middle of the 20th century. The central cartouche features a bucolic scene with trees, dancers and musicians all supported by and interlaced with a chinoiserie style rocaille element, very much in the style published by Jean-Baptiste Pillement (1728-1808), although the figures are more European in character.