Coin Cabinet of Johann Wilhelm, Elector Palatine
Johann Anton Lautenschein
Dusseldorf, 1701
Oak, walnut, softwood and pear wood, veneered with rosewood, ebony, tin
206,0 x 136,5 x 64,5 cm
Inv.-Nr. R 379
From the Palatine collections in Dusseldorf, transferred before 1868 from the Royal Coin Cabinet
In 1701, the courtly cabinetmaker Anton Lautenschein (also Lüchtenstein, who worked between 1698 and 1716 in Dusseldorf) made two coin cabinets for Johann Wilhelm, Elector Palatine, of the Wittelsbach dynasty. Each cabinet could provide enough room for 10,000 coins for the Electoral coin collection. One cabinet was intended for coins of the antiquity, evident because the drawers still depict the names of Roman emperors. After 1730, the second cabinet was refurbished for the Mannheim Palace with a new interior and was marked with capital letters intended for his contemporary coin collection. The surfaces of both cabinets were made using brass and tortoiseshell in the Boulle technique according to the style of French court art. The ornamentation is identical; however, two variants were made: the “première-partie" as a positive and the "contre-partie" as a negative.
des Bayerischen Nationalmuseum
des Bayerischen Nationalmuseum
