拍品专文
Christian van Vianen (circa 1600-1667) was the son of the revolutionary designer and suberb silversmith, Adam van Vianen (circa 1568-1627), and the nephew of the equally illustrious Paul van Vianen (d. 1613), goldsmith to the Emperor Rudolph II of Prague.
The van Vianen brothers, particularly Adam, were responsible for the introduction of the auricular or lobate style to silversmithing. The style flourished firstly in Holland, but later in the 17th century throughout Europe. Adam's work is perhaps best represented by the wonderful covered ewer he made in Utrecht in 1614 (Christie's Amsterdam, 19 October 1976, lot 544), now in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (illustrated by J.R. ter Molen, Van Vianen een Utrechtse familie van zilversmeden met internationale faam, Utrecht, 1985, vol. I, fig. 23). The body of the ewer, entirely chased from a single piece of silver, with its grotesque crouching monkey stem, exemplifies Adam's belief that hand-raising from a single sheet and chasing was the highest art of the silversmith.
Having received his first commission from Charles I in 1630, Adam's son Christian moved to London two years later and remained there until about 1643. He, like other foreign silversmiths, did not register his own mark at Goldsmiths' Hall. He either signed his work or occasionally had it marked and submitted for assay by registered English silversmiths. It may also be that Christian's position as a Royal goldsmith employed directly by the King allowed him not to hall-mark some of his productions. He appears to have moved back to Utrecht in 1643 and returned to England after the Civil War, when he was appointed "Silversmyth in Ordinary to his Matie. for Chasework within his Maties Closett and Bed Chamber & alsoe the Closett and Bed Chambr. of the Queene" (J.R. ter Molen, op.cit. p.38).
The present remarkable auricular cup appears to be a pair to one in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; when placed side by side, their crouching figural finials face each other, (see Ellenor M. Allcorn, English Silver in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Silver before 1697, Boston, 1993 pp. 126-128, cat. no. 52, pl. 52 and colour plate XI). The Boston example is engraved with the arms of the diarist Sir John Evelyn (1620-1706) and his wife Mary, daughter of Sir Richard Brown, whom he married in 1646. The present cup seems to have had its arms erased. It has been suggested, on stylistic grounds, that the coat-of-arms on the Boston example are later but they conform to those on other seventeenth century silver remaining in the Evelyn family. While there are slight differences in the way the covers fit around the handles, the entirely hand-raised construction of the body, and the unusual minute flanges that hold the cover in place, are identical on both cups.
The form of this cup is clearly related to a print in Constighe Modellen, Van verscheijden Silvere Vaten, a group of designs by Adam van Vianen, posthumously published by Christian in Utrecht in 1650. They would undoubtably have been in existence, and well-known to Christian, prior to the date. Ellenor Allcorn writes that the Boston cup shares "several characteristics with the design on plate 20, in particular the high ear-shaped handles terminating in serpent's tails, the divison of the body into six lobes, and the crouching figure that serves as a finial" (op. cit., p. 126). In spite of the very close relationship between Adam's designs and the Boston cup, Ter Molen ( op. cit., p. 114, no. 628) has concluded that the recognizably English form of the cup, and its type of construction, indicate that the piece was made by an English follower of Christian. An English origin has been confirmed by spectrographic analysis of the Boston example (Allcorn, op. cit., p. 128, fn. 8).
During his latter stay in England after 1660, Christian took into partnership Michel de Bruyn van Berendrecht, whose ability to work in the auricular style is demonstrated by a cup and cover made in 1646 in Utrecht (Sotheby's Geneva, 14 May 1985, lot 149). Other possible makers of this and the Boston cup suggested by Ellenor Allcorn are John Coquus, van Vianen's son-in-law or perhaps Wolfgang Howzer, the Zurich born silversmith particularly renowned for his superb chasing. It is significant that a porringer and cover by him of circa 1670 appears to have the same foot as the present example, but its form is entirely anglicized (Christie's New York, 30 October, 1991, lot 306.)
The two cups relate more closely in design, construction and ornament to the work of Adam and Christian van Vianen, than any other of the dozen or so auricular covered cups or porringers extant, with the possible exception of the cup and cover made for Algernon Percy, 10th Duke of Nothumberland. This cup has been attributed to Christian van Vianen, circa 1636-1642 (illustrated and discussed by Charles Oman, Caroline Silver, London, 1970, p. 26 and pl. 7a).
It has been suggested that the extraordinary figure finial of these cups and in Adam van Vianen's design are derived from 16th century German and Dutch drawings of peasants figures defecating on the Earth and urinating at the Moon.
The van Vianen brothers, particularly Adam, were responsible for the introduction of the auricular or lobate style to silversmithing. The style flourished firstly in Holland, but later in the 17th century throughout Europe. Adam's work is perhaps best represented by the wonderful covered ewer he made in Utrecht in 1614 (Christie's Amsterdam, 19 October 1976, lot 544), now in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (illustrated by J.R. ter Molen, Van Vianen een Utrechtse familie van zilversmeden met internationale faam, Utrecht, 1985, vol. I, fig. 23). The body of the ewer, entirely chased from a single piece of silver, with its grotesque crouching monkey stem, exemplifies Adam's belief that hand-raising from a single sheet and chasing was the highest art of the silversmith.
Having received his first commission from Charles I in 1630, Adam's son Christian moved to London two years later and remained there until about 1643. He, like other foreign silversmiths, did not register his own mark at Goldsmiths' Hall. He either signed his work or occasionally had it marked and submitted for assay by registered English silversmiths. It may also be that Christian's position as a Royal goldsmith employed directly by the King allowed him not to hall-mark some of his productions. He appears to have moved back to Utrecht in 1643 and returned to England after the Civil War, when he was appointed "Silversmyth in Ordinary to his Matie. for Chasework within his Maties Closett and Bed Chamber & alsoe the Closett and Bed Chambr. of the Queene" (J.R. ter Molen, op.cit. p.38).
The present remarkable auricular cup appears to be a pair to one in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; when placed side by side, their crouching figural finials face each other, (see Ellenor M. Allcorn, English Silver in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Silver before 1697, Boston, 1993 pp. 126-128, cat. no. 52, pl. 52 and colour plate XI). The Boston example is engraved with the arms of the diarist Sir John Evelyn (1620-1706) and his wife Mary, daughter of Sir Richard Brown, whom he married in 1646. The present cup seems to have had its arms erased. It has been suggested, on stylistic grounds, that the coat-of-arms on the Boston example are later but they conform to those on other seventeenth century silver remaining in the Evelyn family. While there are slight differences in the way the covers fit around the handles, the entirely hand-raised construction of the body, and the unusual minute flanges that hold the cover in place, are identical on both cups.
The form of this cup is clearly related to a print in Constighe Modellen, Van verscheijden Silvere Vaten, a group of designs by Adam van Vianen, posthumously published by Christian in Utrecht in 1650. They would undoubtably have been in existence, and well-known to Christian, prior to the date. Ellenor Allcorn writes that the Boston cup shares "several characteristics with the design on plate 20, in particular the high ear-shaped handles terminating in serpent's tails, the divison of the body into six lobes, and the crouching figure that serves as a finial" (op. cit., p. 126). In spite of the very close relationship between Adam's designs and the Boston cup, Ter Molen ( op. cit., p. 114, no. 628) has concluded that the recognizably English form of the cup, and its type of construction, indicate that the piece was made by an English follower of Christian. An English origin has been confirmed by spectrographic analysis of the Boston example (Allcorn, op. cit., p. 128, fn. 8).
During his latter stay in England after 1660, Christian took into partnership Michel de Bruyn van Berendrecht, whose ability to work in the auricular style is demonstrated by a cup and cover made in 1646 in Utrecht (Sotheby's Geneva, 14 May 1985, lot 149). Other possible makers of this and the Boston cup suggested by Ellenor Allcorn are John Coquus, van Vianen's son-in-law or perhaps Wolfgang Howzer, the Zurich born silversmith particularly renowned for his superb chasing. It is significant that a porringer and cover by him of circa 1670 appears to have the same foot as the present example, but its form is entirely anglicized (Christie's New York, 30 October, 1991, lot 306.)
The two cups relate more closely in design, construction and ornament to the work of Adam and Christian van Vianen, than any other of the dozen or so auricular covered cups or porringers extant, with the possible exception of the cup and cover made for Algernon Percy, 10th Duke of Nothumberland. This cup has been attributed to Christian van Vianen, circa 1636-1642 (illustrated and discussed by Charles Oman, Caroline Silver, London, 1970, p. 26 and pl. 7a).
It has been suggested that the extraordinary figure finial of these cups and in Adam van Vianen's design are derived from 16th century German and Dutch drawings of peasants figures defecating on the Earth and urinating at the Moon.