Larch as a Construction Material in Flemish Cabinetmaking of the Seventeenth Century: Dendrochronological Survey of a Larch Construction Panel of Flemish Metamorphoses Curio Cabinet RA 408 in the State Chateau Rájec nad Svitavou (Czech Republic)

ABSTRACT

In the Rájec nad Svitavou chateau there is a Flemish cabinet from the period from about 1650–1680 decorated with scenes from Ovid's metamorphoses. The cabinet comes from the former collections of the house of Salm. The provenance is attributed to one of the suppliers of the Forchondt family art dealership. This cabinet was the subject of a conservation treatment in 2020. During this intervention, various surveys were completed. One of them was a dendrochronological survey of the larch construction panel found at the bottom of the cabinet. The presence of coniferous wood in the structure, together with the found inscription from 1845, called into question the authenticity of the cabinet. Dendrochronology proved that the larch panel was entirely contemporary and came from the French Maritime Alps. The last datable annual ring from an annual ring series of over 200 years was dated back to 1651. The cabinet case is certainly not the product of nineteenth century repairs in Prague. The result of dendrochronology is clear evidence of the use of imported softwoods in the manufacture of cabinets in Antwerp. The material was probably imported for the manufacturing of ships for the Dutch fleet, and the leftovers were sold on the local market. It can be assumed that more examples like this will appear in the future and should not be surprising.

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

KEYWORDS:

• Dendrochronology
• larch
• curio cabinet
• Salm
• Ovidius
• Metamorphoses

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Neoclassical château in the French style built in 1763–1769 according to plans by the French architect Isidor Amando Canavela for the famous noble house of Salm. Chateau interiors contain paintings by Western European, Dutch, and Flemish masters and rich collections of other valuable items from the collecting activity of the Salm family. The founder of the famous Salm picture gallery and the collections was the founder of the château, the Earl Anton Karl Josef Salm. https://www.zamek-rajec.cz/en

2 For more on the Antwerp curio cabinets and workshops see Fabri 1991; Fabri 1993; and Baadj 2016.

3 Knibbe, B. O.S.M. On Screen Measuring and Image Analysis, Version 3.35, Revision 1.5 January 2005. User Manual. Vienna 2005. For more information see http://www.sciem.com or https://vias.univie.ac.at/en/research/dendrochronology/methods/

4 Knibbe, B. and SCIEM: PAST32 Build 700 User Manual. Vienna 2007. The PAST is defined as a mathematical-statistical method for evaluating the degree of agreement between the evaluated tree-rings and the standard chronology of the relevant area and species. The basic parameters are the Baillie-Pilcher T test, the Hollstein T test, and the g or Gleichläu-figket coefficient. More information can be found on http://www.sciem.com

5 Kyncl, J. Zpráva č. 812-21/20 o dendrochronologickém datování kabinetu z inventáře Státního zámku Rájec nad Svitavou. Brno 2020, for Mgr. Radek Ryšánek, PhD.

6 Standard chronology of larch for alpine high altitudes, material from the French Maritime Alps (Büntgen a kol., data source: NASA -Tree-Ring Data Sets).

7 Standard larch chronology for alpine high altitudes, material from the Tyrolean Alps for the period 1604-1792, (Giertz, data source: NASA -Tree-Ring Data Sets).