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Zillertal Valley/Tyrol, around 1800
- Material
- pinewood frame, painted green, partly marbleized, painted scrolling foliage, polychrome painted floral decoration, painted cartouches with flower garlands and grapes on the slants, four paintings after Johannes Esaias Nilson in gilt rococo-style frames depicting the four seasons
- Measurements
- 72 × 54 (47¼) × 23 ½ (19½) in
cf.:
F. Colleselli: Tiroler Bauernmöbel, Innsbruck 1985, p. 101.
Schmidt/A. Müller: Bauernmöbel im Alpenraum, Innsbruck 1982, p. 58.
Schmidt: Bauernmöbel aus Österreich (exhibition cat. Gobelsburg Castle Musem 1973), Vienna 1973, cat. no. 16.
Museum of Tyrolese Popular Art, inv. no. 2818 and 1235.
Gobelsburg Castle Museum, inv. no. 35.877
Rustic cabinets from the Tyrol bear witness to the long-standing tradition of Alpine rural culture. They were crafted from local timber and built to be extremely durable, intended for use across generations. Their design is strongly regional in character and highly individual, as they were almost always made to order.
The present museum-quality Zillertal cabinet displays many of the characteristic features of furnishings from this Tyrolean region. Notable among these is the use of strong base colors, most commonly deep green or blue, as well as light Rococo ornamentation. The painted decoration in the form of acanthus shellwork and floral painting is executed with great detail. The slants are adorned with painted cartouches featuring floral garlands and grapes. The base and the profiled cornice are marbleized. The double framing of the paintings, combining painted as well as carved and gilt rocaille ornamentation, is also a typical feature of Zillertal cabinetmaking.
The refined quality of the painted depictions of the four seasons identifies this cupboard as a work of the Mayrhofen group. Cabinets from this Zillertal region are known for their delicate painting, which draws on international stylistic influences of the 18th century. In this case, the Tyrolean decorative painter was inspired by works of the Augsburg court painter Johannes Esaias Nilson (c. 1765). Comparable cabinets are held in the collections of the Tyrolean State Museum and the former Gobelsburg Castle Museum.