A North German Rococo Beadwork and Painted Pine Tea Table by Johann Michael van Selow, Brunswick, the top Circa 1760

Christie's Amsterdam, 27 June 2006, lot 147

Dr. Henriette Graf, Die Braunschweiger Korallenfabrik des Johann Michael van Selow, Brunswick 2023, cat. no. 2.1.b

The beadwork workshop (Korallenfabrik) established by the Amsterdam-born Johann Michael van Selow in Brunswick, under the protection of Charles I, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (1713-1718), was an unusual but important contribution of Brunswick design to German furniture history (H. Kreisel, Die Kunst des deutschen Möbels. Spätbarock und Rokoko, Munich 1970, p.262). Only in operation from 1755-1772, the factory produced small metal objects and larger items of furniture, predominantly tabletops, decorated with mosaics of glass beads, supplied to clients throughout Germany and other European countries. The design motifs ranged from the standard repertory of rococo ornament including scrollwork, flowers, fruit and birds to architectural and garden scenes, and the nature of glass meant that the colours remained vivid and never faded unlike furniture decorated in marquetry of various woods.

This table is noteworthy in that its aesthetic effect relies heavily on the chromatic contrast between the darker blue outer border and lighter red and pale blue interior ground. The scrollwork, flowerheads and rocaille motifs are treated in a simplified, semi-abstract manner that almost suggests the rococo style has reached the limits of its development on the eve of the neoclassical era. A few similar examples of this highly particular style have been recorded, such as a centre table from the John and Susan Gutfreund Collection sold Christie's New York, 27 January 2021, lot 242.