A German fayence pewter-mounted Hausmalerei tankard and cover (Birnkrug), circa 1690-1700, the jug attributed to Frankfurt, the mount to Nuremberg
Lot Closed
June 9, 02:04 PM GMT
Estimate
5,000 - 7,000 GBP
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Description
decorated by Wolfgang Rossler, Nuremberg, painted with a circular panel with a figure pushing a barrel on a cart, in a mountainous and rocky wooded river landscape, a church on a hill in the distance, within a border of pink roses and leaves, the hinged pewter cover with a ball thumbpiece and foliate terminals, Nuremberg maker’s touch mark to the underside of the pewter cover
Height 25 cm., 9 ⅞ in. overall
The independent decorator or hausmaler Wolfgang Rossler almost always signed the pieces he decorated with a 'WR' monogram to the lower terminal of the handle and although the present example does not bear his monogram, or it may have been obscured by a repair to the base of the handle, on stylistic and compositional grounds, the painting can be attributed to him. Rossler was born in Nuremberg in 1655, trained there as a goldsmith and finished his apprenticeship in 1676. Working as a goldsmith from 1682 to 1711, he used a six-petalled rose on a shield to identify his work. In the early years of his career Rossler decorated fayence predominantly in monochrome, before taking up a more colourful palette. The vivid fantasy landscapes with small figures such as this one were among his most successful designs and appear to be his original compositions, rather than based on engravings. With the successful firing of such vivid colours onto fayence, Rossler can be considered among the most technically accomplished of the Nuremberg hausmaler. For a broader disussion of hausmaler decorators in Nuremberg in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, see Henry Manners in E & H Manners, Decorators of Ceramics and Glass, Independent, Itinerant and the Hausmaler, exhibition catalogue, London, 2024, pp. 12-15.
For a similar Birnkrug painted with a related scene by Rossler, with a 'WR' monogram on the handle terminal, see Alfred Ziffer, Malerei und Feuerkunst, Fayencen der Sammlung Neuner, Munich, 2005, pp. 54-55, no. 20. For further discussion on Rossler see Helmet Bosch, Die Nürnberger Hausmaler, Munich, 1984, pp. 275-277, and p. 308, no. 245 for another example of the same form as the present lot, with partial 'WR' monogram and a similar landscape scene. See also E & H Manners, op. cit., pp. 24-25, no. 4, for an illustration and further discussion of the aforementioned tankard, which is from the Robert G. Vater Collection, sold at Christie's, London, 16 December 2021, lot 65.