A magnificent coin cabinet

Who doesn’t need a place to keep all their treasures? The solution is to be found at the spring auction at Bredgade in the form of an extravagant coin cabinet from Baroque Germany.{vfs:discard}

4 December 2014

German coin cabinet from the early 18th century. Once belonged to botanist Johann Heinrich Burckhardt. Estimate: DKK 200,000-300,000.

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One of the highlights of the spring auction is a German coin cabinet in walnut from the early 18th century. It was probably made in Wolfenbüttel or Brunswick – two towns known for their fine cabinetry at this time. Hidden behind four doors, the beautiful cabinet has countless little drawers, ideal for storing a coin collection or simply keeping your bits and pieces in order.

Noteworthy provenance

What’s more, the cabinet has an interesting provenance. It bears the crest and mirror monogram of a German gentleman named Johann Heinrich Burckhardt (1676-1738). He was a court official and physician-in-ordinary in Wolfenbüttel, which was the seat of the Duchy of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel at the time.

Burckhardt became known for his pioneering work in botany. In connection with this, he corresponded, among others, with the famous German mathematician and philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz. In a letter from 1702, Burckhardt suggests that plants can be categorised on the basis of their fruit anatomy, thus pre-empting Swedish botanist Carl von Linné’s later groundbreaking system five years before his birth.

A collector's cabinet

Burckhardt was, however, also an avid collector of specimens, curiosities and coins, and is said, in addition, to have had some 7,000 books on his bookshelves. His collection of small items was kept in five cabinets. Two of them can be seen in public collections in Germany – one at the castle in Wolfenbüttel and the other at Badisches Landesmuseum in Karlsruhe. The other three are in private ownership – in Augsburg, Paris and Copenhagen. It is the latter that we have the pleasure of offering at the spring auction.

Auction: Monday 5 March from 2 pm at Bredgade 33 in Copenhagen

View all older furniture including in the auction

For further information, please contact:

Anders Fredsted: +45 8818 1142 · afr@bruun-rasmussen.dk

Caption:

For further information, please contact:

Anders Fredsted: +45 8818 1142 · afr@bruun-rasmussen.dk