A DUTCH STAINED PINE HALL BENCH

The fashion for impressive carved hall benches undoubtedly reflects the changes in planning and arrangement of Dutch houses. This was also influenced by Daniel Marot (1661-1752) who included floor plans for town houses inspired by the Parisian Hôtels in his Livres. In these plans the hall gained greater prominence. Hall benches were created as decorative elements rather than seat-furniture. They were designed to harmonise with the stucco wall decoration, possibly as an echo for embellishments elsewhere. Unlike auricular tables, hall benches rarely incorporate any deeper symbolism.
Although halls and therefore hall benches rarely appear on contemporary genre paintings, information is fortunately provided by several doll's houses, which have survived more or less intact since they were executed. These dolls' houses were incorporated in a cabinet and were not intended as children's toys, but as costly collector's cabinets. Some of these dolls' houses contains hall benches, for example the one made for Sara Roth which is now in the Frans Hals Museum in Haarlem.
Comparable hall benches were sold Christie's Amsterdam, The Schermerhorn Collection, 29 September 1999, lots 507, 515, 523, 542 and 546.