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Lot Essay
These table ornaments demonstrate the heights achieved by South German goldsmiths in the late 17th century. They are part of Augsburg tradition of silver sculpture, many produced by the celebrated Drentwett family of goldsmiths during the second half of the 17th century.
These table ornaments demonstrate the heights achieved by South German goldsmiths in the late 17th century. They are part of Augsburg tradition of silver sculpture, many produced by celebrated Drentwett family of goldsmiths during the second half of the 17th century. Helmut Seling in Die Augsburger Gold und Silberschmiede, 1529-1868, Munich, 2007 lists at least thirty silversmiths from the Drentwett dynasty working in Augsburg from the late 16th to the early 19th century, of whom Abraham II (1647-1729) is probably the most renowned member. Abraham II became master in 1675 and married Susanna Peters, the daughter of a fellow goldsmith, in the same year.
Drentwett demonstrated a real talent for creative modelling, casting his figures in the Augsburg tradition. This gave them greater fluidity and allowed for more originality in his compositions. His body of work, partly recorded by H. Seelig, lists several examples of sculptural works including a pair of figures of Vulcan and Apollo dated 1703-1707, now in the Armoury, Moscow; two busts of Mars and Bellona in the Royal Schatzkammer, Munich; a statuette of Jupiter in the Grüne Gewölbe in Dresden illustrated in exhibition catalogue, Quand Versailles était meublé d'argent, Versailles, 2007, p. 158-159, No. 27; three statuettes of Hercules, Omphale and Venus, also dated 1699-1703 in the Kassel Museum and interestingly a group of seventeen figural table ornaments are recorded in the archives as being in the castle of Dessau, property of the duke of Anhalt and of which fives were exhibited in G. Biermann, Deutsches barock und rokoko: heausgegeben im Anschluss an die Jahrhundert-austellung Deutscher kunst, 1650-1800, Darmstadt, 1914, vol. 1 fig. 577 and vol. 2, p. XV. The figure illustrated in this catalogue is Diana and the stag later sold at Christie’s, Geneva, 18 November 1981, lot 192.
These four work are from a set of at least six examples, all previously in the collection of the van den Steen family. Traditionally they are thought to have been the gift of Joseph Clemens of Bavaria (1671-1723) as he served as Prince-Bishop of Liège and was advised by Lambert van den Steen. In the Rétrospective d'Art Industriel, Brussels, 1888 the six ornaments are wrongly attributed to Pierre de Fraisne orfèvre liégeois (16-12-1660) joaillier de la reine Christine de Suède et de plusieurs prince-évêques de Liège.
These table ornaments demonstrate the heights achieved by South German goldsmiths in the late 17th century. They are part of Augsburg tradition of silver sculpture, many produced by celebrated Drentwett family of goldsmiths during the second half of the 17th century. Helmut Seling in Die Augsburger Gold und Silberschmiede, 1529-1868, Munich, 2007 lists at least thirty silversmiths from the Drentwett dynasty working in Augsburg from the late 16th to the early 19th century, of whom Abraham II (1647-1729) is probably the most renowned member. Abraham II became master in 1675 and married Susanna Peters, the daughter of a fellow goldsmith, in the same year.
Drentwett demonstrated a real talent for creative modelling, casting his figures in the Augsburg tradition. This gave them greater fluidity and allowed for more originality in his compositions. His body of work, partly recorded by H. Seelig, lists several examples of sculptural works including a pair of figures of Vulcan and Apollo dated 1703-1707, now in the Armoury, Moscow; two busts of Mars and Bellona in the Royal Schatzkammer, Munich; a statuette of Jupiter in the Grüne Gewölbe in Dresden illustrated in exhibition catalogue, Quand Versailles était meublé d'argent, Versailles, 2007, p. 158-159, No. 27; three statuettes of Hercules, Omphale and Venus, also dated 1699-1703 in the Kassel Museum and interestingly a group of seventeen figural table ornaments are recorded in the archives as being in the castle of Dessau, property of the duke of Anhalt and of which fives were exhibited in G. Biermann, Deutsches barock und rokoko: heausgegeben im Anschluss an die Jahrhundert-austellung Deutscher kunst, 1650-1800, Darmstadt, 1914, vol. 1 fig. 577 and vol. 2, p. XV. The figure illustrated in this catalogue is Diana and the stag later sold at Christie’s, Geneva, 18 November 1981, lot 192.
These four work are from a set of at least six examples, all previously in the collection of the van den Steen family. Traditionally they are thought to have been the gift of Joseph Clemens of Bavaria (1671-1723) as he served as Prince-Bishop of Liège and was advised by Lambert van den Steen. In the Rétrospective d'Art Industriel, Brussels, 1888 the six ornaments are wrongly attributed to Pierre de Fraisne orfèvre liégeois (16-12-1660) joaillier de la reine Christine de Suède et de plusieurs prince-évêques de Liège.