A square box with a tall lid with a convex edge. The top of the lid is decorated with elegant parquetry depicting a tulip and two butterflies within a scale-patterned frame interrupted by flowers and leaves. The sides of the lid and case are decorated with marquetry with cross-connections that create an optical illusion of depth. The case features solid silverwork in the shape of tulip leaves, as well as a solid silver keyhole on the front.

The interior is lined with green silk and offers room for nine cut crystal bottles with silver collars and caps in the shape of tulip leaves. The bottles are placed into silk-lined compartments.

In the course of the eighteenth century, it became increasingly customary to bring along alcoholic beverages in a case when traveling. As the consumption of liqueurs in Europe skyrocketed, liqueur cellars became the subject of boundless creativity. Since they were used in company, the exclusivity of the case could confer status onto its owner, leading to a rapid development of increasingly luxurious and extravagant designs in terms of both shape and execution.

The striking combination of tight parquetry and elegant marquetry is the work of the Hague-based furniture-maker Matthijs Horrix (1735-1809).

Matthijs Horrix
Mathijs Horrix most likely travelled to The Hague around 1761, where he joined the cabinetmakers’ guild in May of 1764. He had registered as a citizen of The Hague in January of 1764, and married Elisabeth de la Fosse, a native of The Hague, in that same year. The couple’s home was on Spuistraat, as was Horrix’s workshop, which developed into a large and versatile workshop from 1770 onwards. In 1771, Horrix joined the Pietersstoelgilde guild in 1771, where he not only held the position of Master Cabinetmaker, but also of “Spaanse stoelenmakers Baas”. Horrix’s employee Willem Corbaz was also registered in the guild as an upholsterer in the Pietersstoelgilde, making it possible to build upholstered chairs.

From then on, Horrix could effectively build all furniture needed to furnish a house, something that members of the Stadtholder’s Court and other courts eagerly took advantage of, especially because Horrix employed “the latest fashions from Paris”. This was made clear in his business’s name: In de Commode van Paris, or “In the Parisian Commode”.

Matthijs Horrix died in 1809 and was succeeded by his cousin, Pieter Paulus Horrix (1767-1840), who had worked in his uncle’s workshop since 1794.

Literature:
R.J. Baarsen, “‘In de commode van Parijs tot Den Haag’, Matthijs Horrix (1735-1809), een meubelmaker in Den Haag in de tweede helft van de achttiende eeuw”, in Oud Holland 107, nr. 1, 1993.