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A German parcel-gilt silver and enamelled cup and cover, Caspar Widman, Nuremberg, 1559-70
Description
- silver-gilt, enamel
- 28cm., 11in. high
Provenance
Mayer Carl von Rothschild (1820-1886)
His sixth surviving daughter Bertha Clara (1862-1903)
Her husband Prince Louis Berthier de Wagram (1836-1911), sold on his death
Galerie George Petit, Paris, 12 and 13 June 1911, Orfèvrerie Allemande, Flamande, Espagnole, Italienne etc., Provenant de l’ancienne collection du feu
M. le Baron Carl Mayer (sic) de Rothschild, lot 9.
Literature
Marc Rosenberg, Die drei soggenannten Jamnitzer Becher. In Kunst und Gewerbe, bd. 19, 1885 pp. 298-305. nos. 15 and 17
Marc Rosenberg, Der Goldschmiede Merkzeichen, Frankfurt a.M., 1925, no. 3929(c)
Karin Tebbe et al., Nürnberger Goldschmiedekunst 1541-1868, Nuremberg, 2007, no. 962, Literature: `Ein Akeleipokal mit Dekel im Formtyp des Nürnberger Meisterstücks ehemals in der Sammlung Rothschild in Frankfurt, 1911 im Kunsthandel, Verlieb unbekannt’
Condition
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
Catalogue Note
Marc Rosenberg in Drei Soggenanten Jamnitzer Becher remarks on the 'striking kinship' between the cup now offered and a design by Virgil Solis, the Nuremberg printmaker and engraver (see fig. 2). After Mayer Carl’s death in 1886 his collection of mostly German works of art kept at the Frankfurt country house of Günthersburg amounting to over 500 pieces, was divided into five portions by a group of experts, which included Ferdinand Luthmer. The cup is listed in the first portion no. 181c as:
'Becher Jamnitzerform, silb. Verg., auf dem Dreipass-Fuss sowie dem sechstheiligen Körper und Deckel entsprechende Medaillons, Auflage in Email translucide auf Silber, Spitze Blume mit roth. Email translucide. Durchm. 11 ½ cm., Höhe 18cm [sic]'
This first portion was bequeathed to Carl Mayer’s seventh daughter Bertha Clara (1862-1903) who had married the Prince de Wagram in 1882 and lived in Paris. When the prince, who outlived his wife, died in 1911, the cup was sold at the Galerie George Petit, lot 9, to the dealer A.S Drey for 30,000 Francs or £1,200 equivalent
Caspar Widman (working dates 1554-1590) is recorded as a chosen goldsmith of the Nuremberg council,5 the governing body controlled by patrician figures such as Friedrich Behaim VII. A pair of stacking beakers by this master dated 1565 and with the arms of three Nuremberg patrician families, Muffel, Tucher and Rieter, was sold Sotheby's, London, 18 December 2007, lot 196. A third beaker, possibly part of that series, is at Anglesey Abbey, near Cambridge.
1. It is one of a group of medals by the anonymous Nuremberg master of 1525-27, associated with the hand of Matthias Gebel (circa 1500-1574). See: Marjorie Trusted, German Renaissance Medals, A Catalogue of the Collection in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London 1990, p. 84
2. Op. cit. no. 130; and exhibition catalogue, Wenzel Jamnitzer und die Nürnberger Goldschmiedekunst 1500-1700, Germanisches Nationalmuseum, 28 June-15 September 1985, no. 601
3. An example of such a thing happening would include three Nuremberg cups of 1582 by Hans Kellner, which had a commemorative medal of Johann Wilhelm Löffelholtz (1558-1600), fitted in their covers after his death in 1601. See: Monica Bachtler, Goldschmiedekunst, Bielefeld, 1986 no. 13
4. Georg Habich, Die Deutschen Schaumünzen des XVI Jahrhunderts, vol. I, reprinted London, 1994, p. 138, no. 942
5. Karin Tebbe et al. Nürnberger Goldschmiedekunst 1541-1868, Nuremberg, 2007 no. 962