Tiled stove

Description

This splendid stove from the Reinacherhof at St. Johanns Vorstadt 3 in Basle, belonging to mayor Johannes Ryhiner, is among the most beautiful of all surviving Strasbourg stoves. Its attribution to the Acker/ Hannong factories is based on its similarities to the larger stove of comparable design in the Residenz in Würzburg that was made in Strasbourg in 1764. The tiles with painted scenes that make up the body of the stove are large and the architectural elements cover the joins so effectively that the stove seems to have been made in a single piece. The painting in precious pourpre de Cassius, obtained from a solution of gold and tin, is masterly, though the artist has not been identified. The scenes painted on the tiles of the tower - pastoral idylls and so on, and personifications of the seasons (at the top) - were derived from engravings by Jacques-Philippe Lebas, Joseph Parrocel and others. The firebox is decorated with landscapes in the broad cartouches and pastoral scenes and children's games in the more rectangular panels above them. These are based on engravings by Nicolas de Larmessin IV (after Nicolas Lancret) and Pierre Avelin (after François Boucher). Similar motifs were also used for a stove made in Berne for the Wildtsches Haus on Petersplatz.