Another Spindler

In my last post I wrote about the Spindler Marquetry Family. There is another Spindler family that many are not aware of. During the eighteenth-century in Germany only 2 families dominated the marquetry trade. One was David and Abraham Roentgen in Neuwied and the other was Johann Spindler with his 3 sons in Bayreuth. The Spindler’s were more well known in their country than Roentgen. They not only produced furniture in the Rococo style, but also wall paneling and flooring. 

 

Between 1764 and 1773, Heinrich Wilhelm Spindler and his older brother, Johann Friedrich produced whole rooms, furniture and flooring of marquetry for King Frederick the Great of Prussia at Potsdam. Their greatest work, however, was the Spindler Room at Fantaisie Palace near Bayreuth (shown above). Today this is only a replica with the original in the Bavarian National Museum Bavarian National Museum in Munich. The wall paneling covers 840 square feet and consists of 18,000 pieces. Native domestic woods were used and many of them were dyed (yellow, green and blue). As was the case in those days lac varnish was used as a finish. All this was created by Wilhelm and Friedrich with the help of only 2 assistants. Wilhelm was the younger of the brothers and was reported working in his father’s workshop when only 12 years old. He may have worked in Paris at a young age for the Mineon Family who were considered a dynasty of craftsman and dealers. Truly amazing.

Spindler Marquetry

The Spindler Family has been creating marquetry for over 100 years in the French countryside not far from the Bavaria border within the walls of the abbey of Saint-Leonard. Closed during the French Revolution when the abbey church was destroyed it became a sanctuary for artists during the nineteenth-century. Charles Spindler (1865-1938), started the family business in 1893 and is pictured below. He was trained as a painter and watercolor artist and attended art schools in Munich and Berlin. He is best known for his pictorial marquetry of the Alsace countryside, but is also known to have created marquetry for French Art-Nouveau furniture as well as smaller objects. At the Universal Exhibition in Paris 1900 and the 1904 World's Fair in St Louis he was artfully recognized. His work is signed using pyrography.

The family business was passed on to his son, Paul Spindler (1906-1980) who continued in his father’s footsteps. Like his father he was a great traveler and often incorporated what he had seen into his art. At the nearby abbey chapel of Mont St. Odile, he produced "The Twelve Stations of the Cross,"a collection of marquetry pictures depicting the final hours of Jesus. On some of his marquetry he used a light varnish finish. His work decorated the original Queen Mary.

Jean-Charles Spindler, Paul’s son, took over the day-to-day operation of the workshop in 1975. His marquetry has been displayed as wall panels, pictures and screens. He uses no paint or varnish to color the wood. He starts by drawing an outline of the basic pattern. After this the veneer is cut from a tree in many locations (he cuts his own veneer). Then it is treated and flattened which takes some time. Each piece is precisely cut and may include 20-30 species of wood. His creations can take up to 5 months to complete. The marquetry is then sold usually in the thousands of dollar range. A large picture measuring 33.5" wide x 44.5" high retails for $6500.