DRESDEN, CIRCA 1590

Details

A FINE SAXON MUSKETEER'S POWDER-FLASK
DRESDEN, CIRCA 1590
With wooden body of hollow triangular form covered with original black velvet fabric and encased within an openwork gilt and engraved copper frame. The front with central cartouche engraved with the arms of the Electorate of Saxony impaling those of the Hereditary Arch marshalship of the Holy Roman Empire, all set within a wreath border, at the sides and back pierced and engraved fleurs-de-lys, six iron suspension rings, long pierced iron belt hook at the back, all blued. Engraved conical gilt nozzle with sprung blued iron cut-off, nozzle cap and chain. Retaining nearly all its original gilt finish throughout. With its original braided cord and tassels made of intertwined black and gold wire thread.

Provenance

The Saxon Royal Armouries, Dresden.
With Cyril Andrade, London.
Stephen V. Grancsay.
With Peter Finer, London.
Acquired by Irene Roosevelt Aitken from the above.

Literature

Brooklyn Museum, Loan Exhibition of European Arms and Armor, Summer, 1933
no. 275, Illustrated
Allentown Art Museum, Arms and Armor, March 15-June 14, 1964, no. 163, illustrated

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Elizabeth Seigel Vice President, Specialist, Head of Private and Iconic Collections

eseigel@christies.com +1 212 484 4812

Lot Essay

The bodyguard of the Prince-Electors of Saxony, the Churfürstliche Trabantenleibgarde, were among the most richly outfitted in Europe. Dressed in fine fabrics of black and gold, the Saxon colors, they were equipped with specially designed arms and equipment of exceptionally high quality, mostly made in Dresden. One hundred large triangular gunpowder flasks of this elaborate design were originally issued to the unit of musketeers. While many examples survive, few retain their original fittings, including the nozzle cap secured by a chain and large decorative tassels of black silk and gold braid. This flask is one of the few complete examples outside the Dresden armory, or Rüstkammer.; another, retaining its original spanner, is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (acc. no. 28.195.3).

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