Painted door from the Haus zum Lautengarten, Malzgasse 28/30

Description

Ceilings and wall panellings painted with ornaments or figures had been an element of fashionable interiors in numerous houses of Basle's citizens since the C17. This door painted on both sides comes from the Haus zum Lautengarten in the Malzgasse, belonging to the Sarasin family. The rear side (not shown) represents a cooper with a hammer and a glass of wine under an arch; the front depicts a gardener with a glass of wine and a pruning knife standing between plants. A small Seville orange tree in a tub indicates the predilection of the period for exotic plants as in a well known full length portrait of the Basle town doctor Felix Platter by Hans Bock the Elder, dated 1584. Probably the door belonged to the 'Trinkstube' (parlour) of the summerhouse which is known to have been in the garden, or marked the entrance to the wine cellar or wine press of the house.