Anet-Commode
The Anet chest of drawers is part of the Stadtmuseum Berlin’s “Reichsbank furniture” collection. But how did this piece of French furniture end up at the Märkisches Museum, which specialises in the history of Berlin and Brandenburg? In this essay, we will provide insight into ongoing provenance research.
The Anet chest of drawers is one of 47 historical pieces of furniture collectively transferred from the GDR Ministry of Finance in Unterwasserstraße in Berlin-Mitte to the nearby Märkisches Museum in the early 1950’s.
Where did this furniture come from?
A handwritten note by an unknown person on a historical index card indicates that the chest of drawers may have been salvaged from the “Reichsbank bunker”, the public air-raid shelter in the Reichsbank extension in Kurstraße. The architectural history of the old Reichsbank and its extension building in Berlin during and after the Second World War was therefore of interest in determining the origins of Anet commode.Inspection of the piece for distinct features
At the beginning the provenance researchers examined the chest of drawers from all sides for certain revealing features such as stickers, inscriptions with chalk or felt-tip pens, manufacturer stamps or markings from sale, storage, exhibitions, or transport. Some interesting labels and inscriptions were found, as well as a branding stamp on the back of the chest of drawers. Specialised furniture literature reveals that this branding stamp in the shape of an anchor with an ‘A’ and a ’T’ indicates early ownership by Château Anet, located roughly 80 kilometres west of Paris (France).
Another interesting inscription is “Rb 634”, written in black. More numbers featuring “Rb” can be found on numerous other pieces of furniture in the “Reichsbank furniture collection”. We assume that “Rb” stands for “Reichsbank”. It is unclear when these numbers were written on the objects, whether it was after the Second World War, on the occasion of their transport to the Märkisches Museum, or upon their arrival there. It appears to be a continuous, albeit incomplete count: The lowest “Rb” number in the collection is “Rb 148” and the highest is “Rb 1272”. Could the Reichsbank furniture collection have included more than 1,000 items? If so, it may be possible to find furniture with “Rb” numbers in other museums and collections.
All of these features have been photographed and the photos and their labels are then documented in detail in the object’s data record on the museum database. The more provenance features that are collected and the better and more accessible the data is made, the greater the likelihood that other researchers will find the information and objects in question, making it possible to establish new connections between numerous objects scattered around the world.
Stamps provide information
Furniture experts from the Stadtmuseum Berlin and external specialists in French furniture art have examined the chest of drawers and the other pieces of furniture and have identified various pieces as authentic French furniture from the 18th and 19th century. Some can be attributed to well-known cabinet makers, or ébénistes, based on branding stamps.
Although the Anet chest of drawers does not bear a maker’s (ébéniste) stamp, this is not unusual for the period. Historical studies of furniture thus attempt to identify other similar, so-called comparative pieces based on the type of construction and craftsmanship of the inlay work. In keeping with the fashion of the time, furniture was often made in pairs, for example to enable their symmetrical placement in a room. The chalk inscription “No I” on the back of the Anet chest of drawers could therefore indicate that the chest of drawers had a matching piece at the time of transport, though this has yet to be substantiated. In order to find similar pieces of furniture and decrease the number of possible manufacturers, a large body of specialist furniture literature was consulted, including exhibition and (online) auction catalogues. We were able to find a larger group of “Reichsbank furniture” pieces at the traditional Parisian company Maison Jansen, which still manufactures individual models today.
The brand stamp is currently the only evidence that allows us to attribute the Anet chest of drawers to Château d’Anet. Based on the design of the body and the style of the floral inlays (marquetry), experts suspect that the chest of drawers may have been made as part of a collaboration between the French cabinetmakers Jean-Pierre Latz (1691-1754) and Jean-François Oeben (1721-1763). Evidence of this – entries in catalogues raisonnés, for example – has not yet been found. However, establishing the French origin of the chest of drawers made possible another interesting discovery: the commode is depicted in the Répertoire des biens spoliés (inventory of expropriated goods), which led us to one of its previous owners in Paris.
Parisian origins
German-occupied France (June 1940 – August 1944) was divided into two territories: Northern France, administered by the German military, and Southern France, administered by the French Vichy government. The arrival of National Socialist tyranny in the occupied French territories led to an expansion of the disenfranchisement and expulsion of Jewish people and other minorities, as well as the systematic theft of art on a massive scale. In order to document these cultural assets seized and missing in France, an inventory was compiled of all cultural assets taken from French territory (Répertoire des Biens Spoliés en France Durant la Guerre 1939-1945, RBS).
The catalogue was published between 1947 and 1949 in eight volumes plus additional volumes (suppléments) and was intended to provide art dealers and museums with reference works for the subsequent identification of cultural property missing from France, in case it was put on the market. The French Central Restitution Office (Bureau Central des Restitutions, BCR), which was based in Berlin under the Allied powers, published these volumes after the war. The BCR centralised the declarations submitted to the Office of Private Property and Interests (Office des Biens et Intérêts Privés, OBIP) by private individuals and dealers for the French side and processed the files. The OBIP staff travelled through the former German Reich in search of missing French cultural assets.
The volumes are organised by genre and list previous owners in addition to the OBIP file number and a brief description. Some entries also include historical photographs. These are particularly helpful for provenance research, as they often allow objects to be clearly identified, as in the case with the Anet chest of drawers:
By naming the previous owner “B. Fabre et Fils, Paris”, an established antiques dealer, we were able to view the OBIP files upon which the RBS were based in the Archives Diplomatiques in Paris: The Fabre dossiers there and in the Archives de Paris provide information on the extent of trade with the Reichsbank.
The paper also proves that building director and architect of the Reichsbank Heinrich Wolff (1880 – 1944) was active in Paris as a buyer with a Reichsbank budget. Like much of the other Reichsbank furniture, the chest of drawers was apparently intended for the remodelling and refurnishing of the representative rooms of the (old) Reichsbank in Berlin. A further remodelling of the extension building after the Second World War then led to the furniture being transferred to the Märkisches Museum.
After the end of the German occupation and the liberation of France, all art dealers and mediators who had “traded with the [German] enemy” had to explain the scope and extent of their activities in so-called “profits illicites” court proceedings. They were accused of having made unauthorised profits by trading with the enemy. The entire network of dealers and intermediaries who had worked with the Reichsbank found themselves on trial, as did dozens of other Parisian art dealers and interior decorators leading, in most cases, to the imposition of heavy fines and repayments to the French state.
In other cases, the art goods that had initially been seized at the end of the war were recovered. The Fabre files are currently being analysed. From Fabre’s point of view, they demonstrate a clear sale to the Reichsbank in Berlin and do not show any devalued prices. Fabre also made no claims after the war for the furniture sold to the Reichsbank. This leads us to the tentative conclusion that the furniture was not part of a private Fabre collection, but rather part of the antique dealer’s regular stock of goods. What has yet to be clarified – and this is where further research becomes necessary – is how and from what source the Anet chest of drawers found its way into Fabre’s stock.
Only when the history of the chest of drawers has been clarified conclusively, up to the time before the National Socialists came to power, i.e. at least before 1940 or 1933, can the ownership of the chest of drawers be regarded as unproblematic.
Provenance research classifies objects by colour in a so-called traffic light system in order to identify, monitor and plan the status of work and research requirements in museums, collections and the art trade: “green” for untainted objects with complete provenance where unlawful seizure can be ruled out, “yellow” and “orange” for objects with a need for further research due to gaps in provenance or known connections with possible unlawful seizure (“unclear”/”suspected”) or “red” for objects for which clear evidence came up that they have been unlawfully seized and are currently in unlawful possession.
For these objects, not only must the provenance be urgently researched further, but a report must also be made in the Lost Art Database and an active search is carried out for the rightful owners or heirs.
The traffic light system developed from the previously predominant provenance research on historical confiscation contexts of National Socialism (1933-1945). In the meantime, however, the field of research has also expanded to include colonial seizure contexts (19th-20th century) and seizure contexts from the post-war and GDR periods (1945-1990). The “traffic light” is used here in an adapted form.
The provenance of the Anet chest of drawers must be examined further on the basis of its categorisation.
Château Anet
Château Anet was built between 1547 and 1555 by order of King Henri II (1519-1559) of France according to designs by the architect Philibert Delorme (1510-1570) as a three-winged complex with extensive gardens and parkland.
In the 18th century, when the Anet chest of drawers was likely to have been built, the château was owned by the Duc de Penthièvre, who died in 1793. It later went through various changes of ownership and remodelling. It is difficult to clearly identify a room where the Anet chest of drawers may have stood.
Château Anet has been in family ownership since the mid-19th century and currently serves as a private residence. Only one wing of the original complex remains.