Property of an Important European Collection
A façon-de-venise diamond-point-engraved flute, Circa 1680, Low Countries
Lot Closed
November 13, 02:27 PM GMT
Estimate
25,000 - 35,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
Property of an Important European Collection
A façon-de-venise diamond-point-engraved flute
Circa 1680, Low Countries
attributed to Willem Mooleyser, of slender conical form, engraved, with a frieze of putti among flowers and a figure emblematic of Victory or Fame, the lower section with floral sprigs and perching birds, set on a hollow short baluster knop flanked by mereses over a short section and conical foot with folded rim, the foot engraved with a pair of sprigs
33cm., 13in. high
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Sammlung Dr Wilhelm Dosquet, Berlin, sale Auktion Haus Hans W. Lange, Berlin, 19-21 May 1941, lot 254.
For a related diamond-point engraved flute in the Rijksmuseum, see Ritsema van Eck, P., Glass in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, 1995, Vol. II, pp. 46-7; also a signed glass by Mooleyser (c. 1640-1700) with similar flower engraving, also in the Rijksmuseum, see Ritsema van Eck, op. cit., pp. 66-7. A flask engraved with similar putti, formerly in the Korf de Gidts collection, Amsterdam was sold as part of the Joseph R. Ritman collection, sale Sotheby's, London, 14th November 1995, lot 52.
Fine-line engraving on glass with a stylus fitted with a diamond-shard is an early free-hand technique thought to have been used by the Romans and in the Islamic world. It was revived by the Venetian mirror and glass makers in the 16th century and perfected by engravers in Holland in the 17th century who would decorate vessels in a variety of ornamental styles including calligraphy, botanical studies, history and religious subjects, portraits and coats of arms. This type of tall flute, sometime known as a Spitzglas due to the tapering bowl, frequently features in Dutch still-life painting and portraiture of the Golden Age. In these contexts they appear to be used for ale as well as wine. In the work of Pieter Claesz and his school, flutes and other forms of glass drinking vessels such as a roemer or Passglas appear with domestically produced silver and pewter as well as imported stoneware and exotic Chinese porcelain, surrounded or filled with produce. Some surviving examples were embellished with engraving which may have had a particular significance to the original owners and were therefore preserved in dynastic collections.
The present flute is not recorded in the exhaustive manuscript, Smit, F.G.M.A., A Concise catalogue of European Line-engraved Glassware 1570-1900 or in any of the standard literature on Dutch glass.
This lot is sold pursuant to a settlement between the current owner and the heir of Dr Wilhelm Dosquet.