Mirror Console Johann Michael Hoppenhaupt The Elder (1709 – 1769) Berlin/potsdam, Around 1755

Console with mirror, Johann Michael Hoppenhaupt the Elder (1709–1769), Berlin/Potsdam, circa 1755/60. Carved limewood, painted in its original grey-white and gilt, original mirror, red marble top. Console H. 80 cm, W. 100 cm, D. 40 cm; mirror H. 115 cm, W. 73 cm. Cf.: The identical gilt mirror exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Johann Michael Hoppenhaupt was among the most important sculptors and interior decorators at the court of Frederick the Great. In 1740, he began working as a cabinet sculptor at Berlin Palace under the direction of the court architect von Knobelsdorff and the sculptor J.A. Nahl, also in the service of the court. Frederician Rococo was focused on lightness and elegance – the luxuriant flower buds and pomegranates are rendered so plastically and naturally that one wants to touch them. Johann Michael Hoppenhaupt's most striking distinctive feature is above all the crane that advances into the mirror from the upper left corner of the frame. This very specific formal language is found repeatedly in his works, such as in Frederick the Great's study and bedroom at Sanssouci Palace in Potsdam. The Rococo mirror represents Frederician Rococo in all its perfection. Lit.: E.A. Seemann: "Preußische Königsschlösser in Berlin und Potsdam", p. 135, Hans Huth: “Friderizianische Möbel”, ill. 5, Lydia-Lida Dewiel: “Möbel-Stilkunde”. Inv. no. €11.35165,000Translated with DeepL.com (free version)