Johann Rudolf Feyerabend, Trompe-l’œil Still Life with Draughts Board, 18th C.

Johann Rudolf Feyerabend (Swiss, 1779–1814)
Still Life with Draughts Board
Watercolour and Gouache on Paper, signed lower right
A finely wrought cabinet still life in which Feyerabend arranges a draughts (checkers) board tipped against a stone ledge, its ebony and ivory counters scattered among an assortment of refined objects: Chinese-export porcelain cups and pot, a silvered jug, a sealed letter with quill and stick of red sealing wax, a steel penknife, glass apothecary flasks, and a set of nesting weights. The composition is characteristic of Feyerabend’s meticulous illusionism, in which everyday articles acquire jewel-like intensity through minute brushwork and delicate layering of transparent watercolour and opaque gouache, often heightened with gum arabic.
The play of surfaces—sparkling glass, lustrous ceramic glaze, polished wood, and cool metal—recalls the Northern European trompe-l’œil tradition of the 17th century, while the restrained palette of warm browns, Prussian greens, and ivory tones is punctuated by the single vivid red blob of sealing wax. Beyond its Biedermeier naturalism, the juxtaposition of domestic implements with imported porcelain and exotic woods hints at the era’s global trade and taste for Anglo-Indian luxury goods.
Johann Rudolf Feyerabend was born in Basel and is known for his refined small-scale still lifes, often painted in watercolour and gouache on paper or card. His works were prized during his short lifetime for their precision, intimacy, and subtle wit. Today, they are rare survivals of a transitional moment between Enlightenment empiricism and Biedermeier domestic sentiment.
Signed “J. R. Feyerabend” at the lower right. Presented in a later moulded mahogany frame with gilt slip.
Sheet (sight) size: 10 ¼ × 12 ½ in (26 × 32 cm)
Overall framed depth: 1 in (≈ 2.5 cm)