Furniture

I've been to several flohmarkts, or flea markets, since we arrived in Germany several years ago, and have until now been unable to find furniture pieces that melted my proverbial butter.

A friend of mine introduced and accompanied me to an antique store not far from my home. The antique building was massive with a labyrinth of interconnecting hallways, rooms and cellars. With so much to look at, I wondered if I'd be able to narrow down all that I saw into a few reasonable considerations.

I saw the schrank first and knew that J would be enamored of its carvings. The next day, J and I traveled to the shop where he, as predicted, stopped to finger the wood carvings. After a bit of back and forth, a price was agreed upon. We discovered that the piece has been passed through several generations of a single family whose most recent owner purchased a flat that is far too small to accommodate the piece's colossal size.

Luckily, we have the schrank's history and know that it was built in the 18th century for a presumably well to do monk housed in an Alsatian monastery when that particular territory fell to the French. The panels depict the archangels Gabriel and Michael and Saints Peter and Paul. Log is beside himself, Littlest is frightened by the depiction of the dragon being slayed, and Bop likes to play with the door's skeleton keys. The schrank is made of messive oak and its interior is made from cedar. The whole thing smells of lemon oil and wax.






As we walked through the store, J spotted this desk, also made of messive oak, and inquired about the piece. The desk was owned by Johan Conrad Hornmann, whose name appears on the front. The desk is stamped '1713', the year which it was made. The Hornmann family to this day owns a glass factory near Nuremberg. The factory has been producing glass since the time of the 30 Years War. This desk was apparently one of the lesser valued items released from the family home for sale recently.

The vase on the desk was a gift from the salesman at the antique store. I expressed an interest in Delft pottery, and the owner gave it to me saying that she didn't care much for it since it wasn't German craftsmanship. I've spoken with the salesman many times and will be taking a bread baking class with her next month. In the meantime, J and I are delighted with our purchases and are happy to be able to bring a piece of Europe home with us.