Spetchley - Property from the Berkeley Collection

Spetchley - Property from the Berkeley Collection

View full screen - View 1 of Lot 156. ATTRIBUTED TO CHRISTOPH DANIEL SCHENCK (1633-1691) GERMAN, LAKE KONSTANZ, SECOND HALF 17TH CENTURY | Double-Sided Memento Mori Relief.

ATTRIBUTED TO CHRISTOPH DANIEL SCHENCK (1633-1691) GERMAN, LAKE KONSTANZ, SECOND HALF 17TH CENTURY | Double-Sided Memento Mori Relief

Restricted Species

Auction Closed

December 11, 04:05 PM GMT

Estimate

3,000 - 5,000 GBP

Lot Details

Description

ATTRIBUTED TO CHRISTOPH DANIEL SCHENCK (1633-1691)

GERMAN, LAKE KONSTANZ, SECOND HALF 17TH CENTURY

Double-Sided Memento Mori Relief


ivory

6.5 by 4.7cm., 2½ by 1⅞in.


This lot contains ivory. Due to recent changes in the laws of many countries (e.g. US, France) Sotheby's recommends that buyers check with their own government regarding any importation requirements prior to placing a bid. Please note that Sotheby's will not assist buyers with CITES licence applications where a buyer elects to either collect or arrange their own shipping, nor will Sotheby's assist with the international movement of ivory by air, either as freight or through hand carry. Sotheby's shipping will only assist in shipping the lot to either domestic UK or EU destinations, where delivery is made by road transport. A buyer's inability to export or import these lots cannot justify a delay in payment or sale cancellation.

This superbly carved double-sided relief depicting damned souls can be attributed with confidence to Christoph Daniel Schenck, the Lake Konstanz sculptor famous for his virtuoso boxwood and ivory sculpture. Schenck carved several double-sided miniature reliefs in ivory, whose figures are stylistically analogous to those in the present work. Compare, in particular, the penitent female figure with an ivory relief of Saint John (op. cit. no. 4b), as well as a relief with a soul in purgatory (ibid., no. 6). The male faces, are reminiscent of, for example, a boxwood relief with Saint Benno (ibid., no. 9). The present ivory is distinguished by the inventiveness of the composition, with its unusual snake border representing original sin, and the astonishing intricacy of the carving, particularly of the skeleton.


Related Literature

Christoph Daniel Schenck, 1633-1691, exh. cat. Rosgartenmuseum Konstanz (et al.), Sigmaringen, 1996, pp. 118-119, no. 4; pp. 121-122, no. 6; pp. 124-125, no. 9; pp. 141-142, no. 20