A PAIR OF SOUTH ITALIAN CORAL AND ENAMEL-MOUNTED GILT-BRONZE MIRRORS

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TRAPANI It is one of the mysteries of the history of the decorative arts in Europe, that whereas most fashions and techniques spread fairly quickly once they had caught the fancy of the age, some remained nearly exclusive to a particular area. The glass-blowers of Murano come to mind, but although they were able to maintain their superiority for a long time, their craft was nonetheless imitated in many centres all over Europe. The Florentine Grand ducal workshops for the production of pietre dure mosaics were not without their rivals either, but their supremacy was hardly ever challenged. In Florence, the availability of rare and precious materials combined with the very active support from the Court and the involvement of major designers, had created a unique situation. On a more restricted scale, a similar situation prevailed at Trapani in Sicily, which from the 16th Century until the end of the 18th Century witnessed the flourishing of a highly specialized production of gilt-bronze works of art richly decorated with coral. This precious material had its mythical origin in the blood that flowed from the head of the gorgon Medusa when she was slain by Perseus. Like many other rare substances, it was much sought after during the period of the Renaissance, and became one of the materials favoured for the fashioning of works of art for princely Kunstkammern that aimed at bringing together all the marvels of the natural world. Talismanic and medicinal qualities were attributed to coral, such as the detection of poison in foods and the stimulus of fertility. One of the most striking objects in the great Kunstkammer of the Electors of Saxony in Dresden is a silver-gilt cup in the form of Daphne who is turning into a tree in order to escape from the pursuit of Apollo; from the head of the nymph large branches of coral emerge. It was made in the late sixteenth century by the Nuremberg goldsmith Abraham Jamnitzer, copying a piece by his father Wenzel which is now in the Louvre. The Trapani workshops were patronized by the Court of the Viceroys in Sicily, and many pieces of Trapani work must have found their way to European courts as diplomatic gifts. However, the majority of the output seems to have been destined for the local market or for export to Southern Italy or Spain. Many religious works, such as crucifixes, monstrances and holy water-stoups, were absorbed by church treasuries, and secular pieces were acquired by the nobles and the court. Trapani work is characterized by the employment of small pieces of coral, carved into many different shapes and set in a ground of gilt copper to obtain a variety of effects. Small sculptural elements may be executed in coral as well, but three-dimensional mounts also play an important role. They may be enamelled in white, blue and other colours chosen to contrast with the red of the coral, as on the mirror frames presented here. The present group of Trapani mirrors is exceptional both in quality and range. It brilliantly demonstrates the Trapani artists' ability to vary their shapes and motifs. The strapwork and acanthus-leaf enrichments radiating from the borders of the frames are clearly inspired by contemporary ornamental prints from the great European centres, as is the finely executed engraved decoration on the back of some of the mirrors in the present collection. A uniquely ambitious Trapani table cabinet, on which many of the features found on the present group of mirrors occur again, was sold by the Order of the Trustees of the Longleat Chattels Settlement, Christie's, London, 13 June 2002, lot 473. COMPARATIVE LITERATURE Exhibition catalogue Coralli - talismani sacri e profane, Trapani (Museo regionale Pepoli) 1986. Exhibition catalogue Splendori di Sicilia - Arti Decorative dal Rinascimento al Barocco, Palermo (Albergo dei Poveri) 2001, pp. 466-511. S. Roche, Mirrors, Paris, 1956.

A PAIR OF SOUTH ITALIAN CORAL AND ENAMEL-MOUNTED GILT-BRONZE MIRRORS

TRAPANI, SICILY, MID-17TH CENTURY

细节

A PAIR OF SOUTH ITALIAN CORAL AND ENAMEL-MOUNTED GILT-BRONZE MIRRORS
TRAPANI, SICILY, MID-17TH CENTURY
Each with octagonal plate within a moulded surround set with coral beads, the angles with flowerhead shaped enamelled motifs, surrounded by a hatched blue and white rim with pierced foliate and scrolling outer border with winged masks surmounted by shells, and alternating with mother-of-pearl and coral flowerheads, suspended by a loop fitted with a star motif, the backplates engraved with scrolling foliage, one mirror with alternating matt and burnished surface, minor losses and replacement to coral, one mirror lacking small coral-fitted and enamel scrolling elements above the shells, minor differences in size and construction, particularly to the backplate, one mirror engraved to inside 'MA'
17¾ in. (45 cm.) high x 13¾ in. (35 cm.) wide (2)

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拍品专文

Gina Carla Ascione and Enzo Tartamella illustrate three closely- related octagonal mirrors in Coralli, ex.cat., Trapani, 1986, pp. 213-215, figs 58-60. The two larger examples have similar double or triple bands of coral framing the mirror and white enamel decoration to the pierced peripheral ornament. One of these is also embellished with carved flowers and masks, which also appear on the present example. Serge Roche illustrated two Trapani mirrors in his introdution to Mirrors, Paris, 1956, figs. 3 and 5, which he places in the late 16th Century. One of these is also octagonal and has similarly decorated peripheral ornament with white enamels and carved flowers and fruits in coral