Louis XV Mirrored Console Table By Johann Michael Hoppenhaupt The Elder (1709–1769), Potsdam

Mirrored console table
of great value
Mirror
Console table
Johann Michael Hoppenhaupt the Elder (1709 – 1769)

Berlin/Potsdam, ca. 1755/60

Carved linden wood, originally painted white and gilded, original mirror, gray-brown-white marble top

Console: H. 83, W. 102, D. 40 cm; mirror: H. 116, W. 72 cm

See also:
An identical, gilded mirror in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York

Johann Michael Hoppenhaupt was one of the most prominent sculptors and interior decorators at the court of Frederick the Great. In 1740, he began his career as a cabinet sculptor at the Berlin Palace under the direction of the court architect von Knobelsdorff and the sculptor J. A. Nahl, who also worked for the court.
Frederician Rococo emphasized lightness and elegance: the lush floral buds and pomegranates are rendered with such realism and naturalism that one is tempted to touch them. The crane extending into the mirror from the upper left corner of the frame is considered Johann Michael Hoppenhaupt’s most characteristic signature. This highly distinctive formal language recurs throughout his works, as seen, for example, in Frederick the Great’s study and bedroom at Sanssouci Palace in Potsdam.
This mirrored console table embodies Frederickan Rococo at its highest level of perfection.

References: E. A. Seemann: “Preußische Königsschlösser in Berlin und Potsdam,” p. 135; Hans Huth: “Friderizianische Möbel,” ill. 5; Lydia-Lida Dewiel: “Möbel-Stilkunde.”

Inv. No. 2,959

€9,500