A visit to Dordtmund: medieval furniture from the Museum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte, part 1

 

Detail from the "Entkleidung Christi" showing a man using an auger. 

                                                               Egg tempera on oak, around 1480. Painted by someone around the Master of Liesborn.

The "Christmas market" shopping trip of last year went to the German city of Dordtmund. I took the opportunity to visit the Museum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte, while the others were immersing themselves in glühwein and buying Christmas presents. The museum has a nice collection of medieval (and later) furniture, including a small strycsitten. I was able to make some rough measurements of the strycsitten, and of course took a lot of photos (without flash).

The Dordtmund strycsitten 

The Dordtmund strycsitten is not completely original anymore. Several pieces have been replaced - or are missing - for instance, the horizontal bottom rail at the back. I could make some rough measurements using my tape measure trying not to touch the actual item or standing on the display floor (the guardian was watching my back). The strycsitten has a width of 90 cm, wide enough to squeeze in two persons. It has a depth of around 49 cm and a height of around 88 cm. Seating height is around 43 cm. The strycsitten is of German origin and dated to 1400. It is made from oak. The information panel also mentions that traces of paint have been found on the oak.

The front side of the Dordtmund strycsitten. The horizontal board below the seating is a replacement.

Bottom and top of the swinging backrest. The actual swinging pin is located (and hidden) at the seating. 

The swinging pin is also not visible from the outside.

Three pins are used to secure the replacement front board.

The left and right armrests. Note that the top of the backrest has an angle.

This shows nicely the construction of the swinging arm. (On the wall an image of a quite different strycsitten is shown)

The sides consist of two panels decorated with a diamond grid with carved roses.

The bottom decoration on the side of the strycsitten.

The frame is decorated with twisted spiral columns (Left), at the top on which an animal figure (bear?) resides (Right). The spiral column on the right side of the struycsitten are largely detoriated.

The other side, unfortunately a bit unclear photo, but it shows a similar layout.

Writing desk

The view on the writing desk is a bit obscured by the iron strongbox in front of it. The writing desk consist of a small cupboard with a door, a movable writing plateau set at an angle, and a top shelf.

 

 

The panels in the frameword show intricate linenfold patterns. 

The top (left) and bottom (right) panels have different linenfold patterns.

The lock of the writing desk.

The hinge moves from outside on the door to inside on the frame. Note the iron nail that secures the inside part of the hinge.

The writing plateau is connected with two small hinges to the top shelf.

Triangular turned chairs

Triangular turned chairs are a common type of seating found from the late medieval period up to the 18th century. The construction of these chairs remained the same during this period. The Dordtmund museum has several turned triangular chairs on display, however they date from the 17th and 18th century. Fortunately they have some missing parts, thereby revealing some construction details of these chairs. This type is also called 'Ammenstuhl'.

The side view of the triangular turned chair

Back view of the chair.

This photo shows how the parts of the backrest are connected. The armrest goes through the board of the backrest. The four V-shaped supports end up in mortises in the backrest board and the vertikal stile. The vertikal stile is fixed with a wooden pin to the backrest.

A view of the underside of the backrest. The armrest goes through the backrest and is fixed with a small pin from the underside.

The horizontal rails for the seating are all set at the same height ...

...whereas the horzontal rails of the bottom are all set on different heights.

The underside of the seating. The seating board consists of three planks. The (one) horizontal rail goes through the vertical stile.

The top of the seating. This horizontal rail does not completely go through the stile(s), but stops somewhere halfway and is then fixed with a pin (can be seen left and right). The armrest goes through the lower stile and is fixed with a pin.

Sort of top view of the triangular turned chair. My Samsung S9 (~15 cm) was added for size comparison.

Sort of back view of the triangular turned chair. My Samsung S9 (~15 cm) was again added for size comparison.

This 18th century chair has a gap near the stile, and nicely shows the groove and how the horizontal rails go into the stile.

A second 18th century chair is missing some part of the seating board and more clearly shows the groove.

An unusual folding chair at Burg Eltz

Burg Eltz is one of the many castles along the Mosel river in Germany, and a main tourist attraction, mainly because it is still complete and furnished, and thus pleasing to visit. Unfortunately, you may not take photos inside the castle. The furniture collection of the castle ranges from late medieval to the turn of the 20th century. This also includes the neogothic style, which can be difficult to distinguish from late medieval. For instance the type of furniture may not match the medieval style or the furniture is made too regular. 

Four sedia dantesca folding chairs with leather seats are shown in this room of Burg Eltz. On the ceiling hangs an early 16th century lichtweibchen. Photo from Burg Eltz website

A sleeping room in Burg Eltz. I find the bed suspicious, but the dressoir behind it looks genuine. Photo from Burg Eltz website.

This room in Burg Eltz has fantasy medieval furniture, the most obvious one is the sofa. Photo from Burg Eltz website.

One of the pieces of furniture that caught my eye was a common Savonarola folding chair, but with an abnormal contruction for the backrest. Normally, the backrest can slide into a groove in the armrest, and thus the backrest is wider than the chair itself. Here, a dovetail was used to connect the backrest with the armrest. This complete fixes the backrest to the arms (in theory you could slide in and out of the dovetail groove, but it is not very practical), making the chair non-foldable. 

A 'normal' constructed Savonarola chair in Burg Eltz, with an extended backrest.

The normal savaranola chair has a sliding groove for the backrest. This example is my chair.

My savonarola chair backend construction (left), and the Burg Eltz backend with the dovetail (photoshopped from my chair).

A visit to Museum Mayer van den Berg, Antwerp

This autumn, I visited the Museum Mayer van den Berg in Antwerp, Belgium. It is a small museum that houses the private art collection of Fritz Mayer van den Berg (1858-1901). The collection consists of mainly of medieval art, among them several paintings by Brueghel, but also some furniture pieces. Fritz Mayer van den Berg. The museum looks like a late medieval building from the outside, but is in fact a newly made neogothic construction, but quite fitting for the collection. The emphasis of the museum is on medieval paintings, but as said also some furniture can be found, alas with very scanty information.

A 15th century bench with a high back and a chest beneath the seating.

The lid of the seating chest.

The very simple lockplate.

Linenfold panel on the front of the 'benchchest'.

Linenfold panel of the backrest of the bench.

Linenfold panel of the armrest of the bench.

Decoration at the top of the backrest of the bench.

A 16th century armoire. The X-panels are a typically Flemish design of that time.

Top door of the armoire with a carving with animals and grapevines. The carving is made from one oak block, not a panel in a frame.

The carving of the middle stile.

Detail of the top door.

Drawer of the armoire with a grapevine decoration.

The bottom door only has and X-decoration.

An X-panel at the bottom of the armoire.

The top of the armoire.

The side of the armoire only has linenfold carved panels.

The profile of the crown of the armoire.

A linenfold panel from the side of the armoire.

An oaken decorated mantlepiece of a fireplace.

Three circular carvings from the front of the mantlepiece.

The side and the front are connected with large dovetails. Note the thickness of the wood used for the mantlepiece.

Details from the painting 'Boerengezelschap bij de haard' (Farmers at the fireplace) by Pieter Aertsen, ca 1556. On the painting there are two triangular turned chairs depicted. Note that the bottom horizontal rails all are set at a different height in the vertical rail.

Also Pieter Brueghel Sr. depicted some triangular chairs. Here one of the collection of 12 painted plates, one of them showing a drunk between two chairs, 'Int slampampen en mocht my niemant verrasschen, al quyt, sit ick tusschen twee stoelen in dasschen'.

As well as Pieter Bruegher Jr.. Here a detail from the 'Volkstelling te Bethlehem'  (start of the 17th century).

A 15th-early 16th century chair with a high backrest.

The top panels are of the X-design.

While the bottom panels have a linenfold pattern. 

The seating is also a lid of a chest. The hinges (and the lock) are hidden with this chair.

The side of the chair with the decorated vertical rails.

An elegant  late 15th century small square stool (or side table).

Providing a look from beneath the stool. 

A mini-linenfold is directly below the table top.

The centre rail connecting the two sides looks triangular, not square.

A small oaken chest dating from 1500.

A simple lockplate on the chest.

The lid uses a wooden dowel as a hinge. The construction of the chest is very simple: just some boards nailed flat against each other. Also the handle to carry the chest is crude and simple. 

Side view of the chest. Note that the chests stands on 'Kufen' - a horizontal rail, commonly used in the German regions.

This is a bit strange piece of furniture. It looks like it has some kind of folding table top which can also be locked. There are no doors on the front or sides. Presumably this is a kind of writing table or 'kontoir'.

Detail of the front panel.