3. - Schlösser-Magazin

the other rooms in the bathhouse, which all
retain the original décor. Carl Theodor’s study
is lined with mirrors and landscape murals
(Ferdinand Kobell, c. 1775) which serve to
soften the limits imposed by the walls. The
tea room is decorated with ornate Chinese
wallpaper. A resting room and a bathroom
with a large walk-in bath complete the picture
as far as the number of rooms is concerned;
but it is impossible to do justice in such a
description to the wealth of detail afforded by
the bathhouse décor and furnishings. Suffice
to say that all the elements contributing to the
overall impression, from the bronze griffons
supporting the console tables in the oval room
through the neoclassical furnishings of the
side rooms to the snake’s-head taps in the
bathroom, bear testament to artistic skills of
the highest degree.
The sculptors Peter Anton Verschaffelt (1710-
1793) and Konrad Linck (1730-1793), painters
Ferdinand Kobell (1740-1799) and Nicolas
Guibal (1725-1784), stucco craftsman Joseph
Anton Pozzi (1732-1811), and the cabinet
makers Franz Zeller and Jacob Kieser were all
involved in the creation of the bathhouse; but
their works gain immeasurably from being
integrated into a whole, and for this the credit
must go to the designer Nicolas de Pigage
(1723-1796). Pigage’s creation is characterised
by the skilful integration of genuine and
artificial elements, such as real marble
and marble-effect stucco, tear-drop reliefs
and trompe l’oeil paintings of such reliefs,
bronze and bronzed stucco, which constantly
challenge the visitor’s judgment while
ensuring that the “fake” elements hold their
own alongside the “genuine”. This interplay
continues outside the bathhouse.
2. Description
Fountain with water-spouting birds, diorama
Leaving the bathhouse by the north entrance,
one finds oneself at a remarkable fountain
known as that of the water-spouting birds. A
semicircular arbour with elaborate latticework
frames an oval pool; in the centre of this pool
is an eagle-owl with prey, which is bombarded
from above with water spouting from the
beaks of birds perched on the top of the
latticework. Around the pool are two small
pavilions with ornately decorated seating
areas, and four aviaries. The song of the real
birds kept in the aviaries rounds off the effect
of the scene. Paths lined in latticework lead
from this space to small balconies affording
views of the surrounding parts of the gardens.
A courtyard leads from the water-spouting
birds to a long arbour walk (berceau en
treillage). At its end is a pavilion with an
artificial grotto decorated with shells and
semi-precious stones, aligned as an extension
of the walkway. The far wall of the grotto has
a semi-circular opening, and beyond this is a
slightly concave free-standing wall on which a
fresco of a landscape is painted. In reality, the
visitor’s view ends at this wall; but the effect
Bathhouse complex, waterspouting
birds.
2.
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