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Lot Essay
Bust aquamaniles are relatively rare when compared to the number of examples in animal form. The lot offered here may be compared to three other bust aquamaniles grouped together by Barnet and Dandridge in their entry on an example in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (loc. cit). Among the three under discussion, they note the similarity of the cap-like hair with a row of curls framing the face, the prominent eyes and nose, small mouth, spout to the forehead and handle in the form of a fantastical beast to the reverse. All these elements are shared by the present aquamanile. In addition, two of the three examples – one in Berlin and one in Hermannstadt (illustrated in Falk and Meyer, op. cit., figs. 313a and b, 314a and b) – terminate with a circular base embellished with zigzag decoration resting on three spreading feet as with the present lot.
The two bronzes on tripod feet both have north German provenances and Barnet and Dandridge conclude that all three were produced in this region. The aquamanile offered here is more sophisticated than any of the three cited above, with more subtle modelling, particularly to the nose and mouth. There is an overall sense of greater realism to the present lot, and in this sense it approaches another bronze head of indeterminate function which was formerly in the Flannery Collection (for the entry on this bust see Brandt, op. cit., no. 27, pp. 304-305). The Flannery bust is even more naturalistic in its depiction but shares the circular truncation and fascination with geometric borders. It has been catalogued as ‘Hildesheim (?), first third of the 13th century’, suggesting a very early date in the century for the present bust.
A fourth bust aquamanile, also cited by Falke and Meyer (op. cit., figs. 309a and b) and subsequently in the Von Hirsch Collection (Sotheby’s, London, 22 June 1978, lot 206) displays a similar head with closely related curled hair but it differs in that it is depicted half-length and with a more naturalistically rendered tunic. It is also catalogued as possibly originating in Hildesheim in the 13th century.
For more general information on aquamaniles, please see the introduction to this section.
This lot comes with Metallography and Analysis report #R1837 by Dr. Peter Northover.
The two bronzes on tripod feet both have north German provenances and Barnet and Dandridge conclude that all three were produced in this region. The aquamanile offered here is more sophisticated than any of the three cited above, with more subtle modelling, particularly to the nose and mouth. There is an overall sense of greater realism to the present lot, and in this sense it approaches another bronze head of indeterminate function which was formerly in the Flannery Collection (for the entry on this bust see Brandt, op. cit., no. 27, pp. 304-305). The Flannery bust is even more naturalistic in its depiction but shares the circular truncation and fascination with geometric borders. It has been catalogued as ‘Hildesheim (?), first third of the 13th century’, suggesting a very early date in the century for the present bust.
A fourth bust aquamanile, also cited by Falke and Meyer (op. cit., figs. 309a and b) and subsequently in the Von Hirsch Collection (Sotheby’s, London, 22 June 1978, lot 206) displays a similar head with closely related curled hair but it differs in that it is depicted half-length and with a more naturalistically rendered tunic. It is also catalogued as possibly originating in Hildesheim in the 13th century.
For more general information on aquamaniles, please see the introduction to this section.
This lot comes with Metallography and Analysis report #R1837 by Dr. Peter Northover.