• Facets (new session)
• Description
• Metadata
• Settings
  • owl:sameAs
  • Inference Rule: asEquivalentb3sb3sifpfacetshttp://www.w3.org/2002/07/owl#ldpoplwebskos-transvirtrdf-labelvirtrdf-urlNone
    

Made in the workshop of Servatius Arend (1673-1729), court cabinet-maker at Würzburg, the work undertaken by his brother, the journeymen Jacob Arend of Koblenz, and Johannes Witthalm of Vienna in 1716. Jacob left a letter describing conditions in Würzburg in 1716 hidden inside the desk (W.23:41-1975). The winter of 1714-1715 was particularly harsh and the subsequent failure of harvests had made conditions particularly difficulty for working people. It was made for Johannes Gallus Jacob (1670-1736 or 1737), whose cypher and arms are incorporated into the marquetry. He was the all-powerful finance minister (Hofkammerdirektor) of the Prince Bishop of Würzburg Johann Philipp von Greiffenclau (1699-1719) and made a fortune by supplying war materials. Gallus Jacob was born at Tauberbischofsheim, the son of a rope-maker. In 1698 he came to Würzburg and there became Groom of the Chamber at the Prince Bishop's court, rising to the rank of Chancellor. He married a daughter of the respected Franconian court official named Ganzhorn. By 1709 he had become leader of the Cabinet, Privy Councillor and Holder of the Privy Purse. In 1712, during a visit of the Emperor Charles VI to Würzburg, he was raised to the rank of Imperial Privy Councillor. The Emperor was particularly well-disposed towards Gallus Jacob who had arranged for Würzburg troops to serve with the imperial forces, first in the War of the Spanish Succession and then in the Turkish War, under Prince Eugene. The Emperor paid a rent for the troops, and also a payment to Gallus Jacob himself, who also benefited from outfitting the troops and manufacturing armaments. He was knighted by the Emperior in 1717 (the warrant issued 26 June 1717) and took the title 'von Hohlach' (Gallus Jacob von Hohlach). He lived in an exceptionally luxurious manner in Würzburg. Greiffenclau's successor, Johann Philipp Franz von Schönborn (1673-1724, Prince Bishop from 1719), however, had him arrested immediately after his own accession and only released him after he had paid out a heavy fine, which later served to support the building of the surviving Residenz in Würzburg. Gallus Jacob died in 1736 or 1737. The cabinet was probably made either for his house the Hof Friedberg in the Bronnbachergasse in Würzburg or in his country house at Schlosse Walkershofen, to the south of Würzburg. A portrait of Gallus Jacob by the Prague-born artist Franz Mika, is in the Mainfränkisches Museum, Würzburg. Mika died in Wurzburg in 1749. The family of Gallus Jacob appears to have died out in the 19th century. A descendant named Abraham died in 1829. He had only three daughters. Another grandson, born in 1791, was still living in Wurzburg in 1825 but was unmarried and apparently had no children (information from Prof. Dr von Freeden in a letter to Peter Thornton 15 January 1969). When Würzburg became part of the Bavaria in 1803-1805 much furniture from the Residenz was said to have been sold to England. If Gallus Jacob had an apartment in the Residenz, might this cabinet have been there, and sold to England at that time? Islamic forces had been defeated by troops under the leadership of Prince Eugene of Savoy (1663-1736) at the Battle of Peterwardein, 5 August 1716 and the letter presumably refers to this campaign. Purchased in England on 31 August 1843 by John Gibbons for £160. Its history before this is unknown (information from family members). It may have been at the time of the 1843 sale that the date was transposed to read '1617' (this was corrected in 1975). It was probably also at this time that two of the consoles were replaced (possibly early ones had been lost) and the cupboards lined with watered silk. An old paper held by the family (a photocopy of which is in Museum files) recorded 'Prince Maurice of Nassau had it made for a man named Galvé who had furnished the prince with monies for his wars - Galvé, who was enobled by the prince, had gold mines in Spain'. Prince Maurice lived 1567-1625 and it possible that it was to support this spurious claim that the dates was transposed. The writing on the paper probably dates from the time of the purchase of the cabinet by the Gibbons family. John Gibbons and his wife Elizabeth lived in a number of houses in the area around Dudley in Worcestershire (now West Midlands). He made a fortune in the iron trade. In 1845 he moved to 17, Hanover Terrace, Regents Park, London, where he died in 1851. The cabinet is shown in the background of a painting of two young women (unidentified, but probably from the Gibbons family), by C.R. Leslie, 1846. The painting is entitled 'The Shell' and was commissioned by John Gibbons. it is assumed that this was painted at Hanover Terrace. On boxing day in 1967 two young boys of the family (Michael Boughey, nephew of Mrs Gibbons and her son Benjamin) were searching for secret drawers in the cabinet and asked to remove some elements that had been glued in place (the front of the base under the lower right-hand drawer in the writing compartment ). There they discovered the letter written in 1716. On loan to the V&A from Mrs Gibbons from 1968 (RF: Nominal File MA/1/G500). Sold by Mrs E. Gibbons to the V&A, 1977 (Registered File 68/3387) The standard work on ‘brocade papers; is A. Haemmerle, Buntpapier. Herkommen, Geschicte, Techniken, Bezietungen zur Kunst. Munich 1961. The papers in the cabinet are all of designs that would have been current in the period 1700-1725. See also J.F. Heubroex and T.C. Greven, Sierpapier: Marmer-, brocaat- en sitspapier in Nederland (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam,. 1994) and Susanne Krause, Julia Rinck, Henk J. Porck, Frieder Schmidt, Ida Schrijver, Buntpapier: ein Bestimmungsbuch = Decorated Papers: a Guidebook = Sierpapier, ein Gids (2016). Such papers were made in Augsburg in Southern Germany and used throughout continental Europe.