A South-German 'Umdruck'-decorated and painted cherrywood and walnut demi-lune console table

Johann Georg Hiltl (1771-1845) was probably the first German cabinet-maker to employ this black-printed ('Umdruck') and painted decoration on furniture, a technique previously used for the decoration of ceramics. As a result, Hiltl enjoyed considerable acclaim for his work and was described as 'der berühmte Möbelfabrikant' in the Journal des Luxus und der Moden after supplying and obelisk on the occasion of the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria in 1810. (G. Himmelheber, Biedermeiermöbel, Munich, 1987, p. 49.) Two comparable tables are shown in the exhibition of the Münchner Stadtmuseum, see H. Ottomeyer, Zopf- und Biedermeiermöbel, München 1991, pp. 180-181.