Ferdinand Hundt

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Ferdinand Hundt , more rarely Ferdinand Hund , (born July 2, 1703 in Ebersbach near Altshausen , † February 28, 1758 in Bruchsal ) was a German cabinet maker . He was one of the most outstanding cabinet makers and ornamental carvers of the German Rococo . His works in the audience room of the Würzburg Residence are considered to be style-defining and unmatched.

Life

Ferdinand Hundt was born on July 2, 1703 in Ebersbach near Altshausen. His father worked there as a carpenter, whose work for the ship stalls and a pulpit in the monastery church Schussenried has been proven. He probably gave his son Ferdinand his first training.

Nothing is known about Ferdinand Hundt's apprenticeship and traveling years, but a connection to Vienna should be considered. He probably came to Würzburg through the acquaintance of Franz Benedikt Schlecht, who grew up in the neighboring town of Altshausen in Ebersbach. Schlecht worked as an art carpenter in the residence from 1720 and was entrusted there with furnishing work in the so-called second bishop's apartment. Ferdinand Hundt appears in the protocols from 1735 in the Residenz Würzburg as an art carpenter and in 1736 had at least nine journeymen work among himself. In the same year he obtained his master's degree in Würzburg.

Based on designs by Johann Rudolf Byss (1660–1738), he made excellent cast models for the gilded pewter ornaments of the wall decoration for the second bishop's apartment and the parade rooms of the residence. The ornamentation on the main portal of the Schönborn Chapel in Würzburg probably came from him.

A chimney screen , around 1738, Würzburg Residence , attributed to Ferdinand Hundt, now in the MET

As the second bishop's apartment in the Würzburg residence fell victim to changing tastes, only a little has been preserved. A chimney screen, now in the mirror cabinet of the residence, and another lavishly designed chimney screen in the Metropolitan Museum of Art have survived from this period, both of which are attributed to Hundt.

The interior furnishings in the audience room of the Würzburg Residence, carried out in 1740, are considered to be the main work in Ferdinand Hundt's artistic oeuvre. The ornamental carvings in this room are considered to be one of the most beautiful creations produced by the German Rococo. Sedlmeier / Pfister also describes Ferdinand Hundt as a creative ornamenter, "whose tendency towards wildly moving, 'dripping' liquid rocaille , turbulent, rotating, undulating, moving, palmette-like, but already quite asymmetrically radiant in the Würzburg art circle in 1740 was completely 'novel'" is ".

Ferdinand Hundt is known above all as a highly qualified carver of ornamentation. The terms ornamental rate carver or ornament carver are generally used, sometimes the term ornamental rate cutter is also used. Basically, this craft is assigned to sculpture. The basic qualification here is the cabinet maker, who also designs marquetry as a leveler for complex furniture and executes it with the finest veneers. For Ferdinand Hundt, the term "Zierratenschnitzer" fits best to his outstanding way of working. Another form language developed by Ferdinand Hundt himself and completely new from 1740 in the audience room of the Würzburg Residence is the freely moving rocaille, as it were as an increase in the variety of naturalistic forms. With Hundt, this is lively and almost exuberant, changing from one motif to another, like the process of a lively, constantly changing metamorphosis.

This creative achievement in design and execution by Ferdinand Hundt was worked out by Verena Friedrich for the Residenz Würzburg as the consistent change in style from Regence to Rococo with the free rocaille ornament. Beginning in the Venetian Room, this process culminates in the furnishing of the audience room.

As characteristic of the ornament style developed by Ferdinand Hundt, Friedrich notes that one could almost “believe in a difference in the material used, so soft and supple, at the same time asymmetrical in shape and completely independent, are the rocailles on the corners of the Lambris frames in Würzburg. It almost seems as if Ferdinand Hundt made the models for his carving decorations in a plastic material, in clay, wax, perhaps also in stucco ”. At the same time, Ferdinand Hundt integrated the familiar vegetable forms and other ornaments from the Regence into the new style. "The most drastic change, since it is structural, is the reversal of the relationship between the ornament motif and the frame".

As a result, the ornament no longer just decorated the body of frames, consoles or panels, but designed them itself. The outstanding chimney mirror attachment in the Würzburg audience room illustrates just this: It is made entirely of ornament and freely moving rocaille shapes.

The sheer exuberant variety of motifs flowing into each other testifies to the great creative potential of this extraordinary artist. In his later years, his works never again showed that filigree and almost overflowing, imposing and expressive character of the audience room. Fortunately, the overhangs, the mirror trumeaux on the window side of the audience room of the Würzburg Residence and, above all, the chimney mirror that outshines them have survived the war bombardment of 1945 undamaged. They are evidence of an extraordinary, unmatched artistic ingenuity and just as much craftsmanship.

Ferdinand Hundt can be verified with invoices in the Würzburg residence until 1746, but not with concrete work. As his last work in Würzburg, the very well preserved pews of the palace church, which were made in 1746, are proven. The quality of the carved side walls is described as not on par with his other works. Nevertheless, the side panels carved in oak show a sophisticated ornament with elegant spatial depth. Other works by Hundt for church interiors have not yet become known.

Before his move to Bruchsal, mediated by Balthasar Neumann , in the service of Prince Bishop von Hutten from November 1751, Hundt worked for Seehof Castle in Memmelsdorf near Bamberg from the beginning of 1750 at the latest . He entered the service of the prince-bishop of Bamberg, Johann Philipp Anton von und zu Franckenstein (1746–53).

Ferdinand Hundt made some pieces of equipment for Seehof Castle within the Corps de Logis, which are counted among the most outstanding carved furniture of the German Rococo. These include the chimney mirror and supraport frames in the White Hall, the season tables, the console table with hunting problems, the supraport frames in the bedroom and audience room and the famous treillage set.

Probably through the mediation of Balthasar Neumann, Ferdinand Hundt came into the service of the Speyer prince-bishop Franz Christoph von Hutten in Bruchsal and is there for the first time as a "court carpenter". At the same time as him, a number of outstanding artists were active in the Bruchsal Palace , who had already proven themselves in Würzburg under Balthasar Neumann and were now commissioned to furnish the festival rooms and the parade rooms. These include the plasterer Johann Michael Feuchtmayer (1709–1772), the fresco painter Johann Zick (1702–1762), his son Januarius Zick (1730–1797), and finally the painter Johann Nikolaus Treu (1734–1786), the castle Bruchsal into a Baroque jewel.

During this time, Ferdinand Hundt was responsible for the wall-mounted fittings, door panels, numerous central mirror frames and probably several console tables in the Corps de Logis. The furnishings in all of these living spaces at Schloss Bruchsal were almost completely lost due to bombs and a fire at the end of the Second World War, as very little was outsourced. Fortunately, around four hundred very good photographs of the main rooms have survived.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Verena Friedrich: Rococo in the Würzburg Residence . Munich 2004, p. 453-465 .
  2. ^ Verena Friedrich: Rococo in the Würzburg Residence . Munich 2004, p. 99-106 .
  3. ↑ Richard Sedlmeier, Rudolf Pfister: The prince-bishop's residence in Würzburg . Munich 1923, p. 204 .
  4. ^ Verena Friedrich: Rococo in the Würzburg Residence . Munich 2004, p. 453-462 .
  5. ^ Verena Friedrich: Rococo in the Würzburg Residence . Munich 2004, p. 212 .
  6. ^ Verena Friedrich: Rococo in the Würzburg Residence . Munich 2004, p. 213 .
  7. ↑ Sigrid Sangl: The Bamberg court joinery trade . Munich, 1990, p. 106 .
  8. ↑ Reiner Schulz: Ferdinand Hundt's activity in Seehof Castle under Prince-Bishop Johann Phillip Anton von Franckenstein . In: Historischer Verein Bamberg (Hrsg.): 153. Report of the historical association Bamberg . 1st edition. tape 153 (2017) . Verlagdruckerei Schmidt, Bamberg 2017, ISBN 978-3-87735-218-2 , p. 211 to 240 .
  9. ↑ Petra Pechacek: The rooms are of the very best taste . In: Historical Views - Splendid Views . Bruchsal 2006, p. 33-39 .
personal data
SURNAME Hundt, Ferdinand
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Dog, Ferdinand
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German cabinet maker
DATE OF BIRTH July 2, 1703
PLACE OF BIRTH Ebersbach near Altshausen
DATE OF DEATH February 28, 1758
Place of death Bruchsal