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Lot Essay
HANS I CLAUSS AND HIS KUNSTKAMMER VESSELS
Nuremberg-born goldsmith Hans I Clauss (1596-1671) was apprenticed to celebrated Nuremberg goldsmith, Hans Pezolt, and became a master in 1627 at the age of 31. Clauss’ mark appears on a number of exuberant works incorporating natural elements such as nautilus shells and ostrich eggs, suggesting that he may have specialized in mounting these natural treasures as curious Kunstkammer vessels.
One striking ewer, circa 1630, formerly in the collection of John Pierpont Morgan and today preserved in the Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford (obj. no. 1917.272), is formed as an ostrich, with a natural ostrich egg mounted as its abdomen. A smaller nautilus cup and cover by Clauss, circa 1630, its stem formed as a kneeling figure of a Wodewose (wild man) supporting a tree stump on his back, formerly belonged to the collection of Siegfried and Lola Kramarsky, New York and was sold Christie’s, New York, 30 October 1991, lot 72.
Two further nautilus cups by Clauss with Wodewose-form stems are preserved in museum collections. The first, a circa 1645-1651 cup with it stem formed as a kneeling figure, his arm raised to support the shell and its wild-man finial, was formerly in the collection of the Erlanger family, Switzerland, and was acquired by the Detroit Institute of Arts in 2010 (acc. no. 2010.16). The second, a cup and cover with a striding Wodewose stem, made circa 1630-1632 likely as a wedding gift for Landgravine Sophie Juliane of Hesse-Kassel (1615-1670), is today preserved in the Staatliche Museum, Kassel (inv. no. KP B II.71).
M. Rosenberg records in his monograph, Der Goldschmiede Merkzeichen (Frankfurt am Main, 1925, vol. III, p. 212), that two additional nautilus cups by Clauss were present in the collection of the Armoury, Moscow, in 1884. A 1632-1643 nautilus cup, presented by King Christian IV of Denmark to Tsar Mikhail Fyodorovich in 1644, is currently in the collection of the Kremlin. Although it is currently attributed to Johannes Claub of Nuremberg, its similarity to the extant Clauss cups suggests that it is almost certainly one of the cups noted by Rosenberg.
ICONOGRAPHY
Of the known nautilus cups attributed to Clauss, the Kramarsky and Kassel examples are the most closely related to the Zilkha cup, and all three were likely created around the same time. Each is conceived with a figural stem supporting a shell enclosed by four caryatid strap bands, and a wide rim mount etched with mythological marine scenes. Furthermore, all three shells are mounted with cast figures at their shoulders, and the three covers are each chased with sea creatures swimming among swirling tides, below fully modeled finials. The marine iconography, particularly to the cover, relates to a suite of sixty etchings of grotesques by Christoph Jamnitzer, Nuremberg, circa 1610 (see J. Hayward, Virtuoso Goldsmiths, London, 1976, figs. 169 and 172.) Although the Zilkha cup shows strong similarities to its most comparable examples, the interplay of the modeled figures on its upper portion sets it apart, elevating it with a degree of virtuosity above its peers. While the Kramarsky cup features Neptune facing a rearing dragon, similar to the confronting Neptune and lion on the Zilkha cup, it lacks the Zilkha cup’s impending second confrontation, implied by another predator lurking in wait beneath the cover.
The Zilkha nautilus cup appears to be the only known example by Clauss with a satyr-form stem. The kneeling satyr, with his head angled to the right recalls the famous Farnese Atlas, a second-century Roman marble sculpture based on a Hellenistic statue, acquired in 1562 by Cardinal Alessandro Farnese for the Villa Farnese in Viterbo, Italy. With the rightward bend of his head, the Farnese Atlas acknowledges the observer while bearing the world on his shoulders. Mimicking the Atlas’ posture, the satyr of the Zilkha cup conveys to the viewer that he carries the magnificence of the precious shell above.
NAUTILUS CUPS
Nautilus shells mounted in silver were coveted in Europe from at least the thirteenth century, although there is evidence that nautilus shells arrived in Europe as early as the ninth century, as recorded in church treasury accounts (H. Mette, Der Nautiluspokal, Munich, 1995, p. 33). The precious shells were imported via Asian and Middle-Eastern trade networks, arriving in Europe in larger volumes once European traders reached the Spice Islands in the sixteenth century. The establishment of the Dutch East India Company, or VOC, in 1602, and its subsequent monopoly on the Spice Islands trade, afforded the Netherlands a monopoly over the import of nautilus shells, which were then almost exclusively imported through Amsterdam and sold on through Dutch merchants.
Hanns-Ulrich Mette’s catalogue of nautilus cups records 313 unique examples, most of which received silver mounts in the Netherlands or Germany, where the majority were produced in Augsburg and Nuremberg. While the vast majority of Dutch and German cups are modeled with similarly-conceived figural stems, each supporting a shell braced by strapwork, the two regions differ in their mounting of the upper shells. Dutch examples generally have protruding lip mounts which transform the shell into a grotesque goblet, while the German examples, by contrast, frame the shell as a platform onto which the silver mounts may enact narratives—the double-confrontation between Neptune, the lion and the dragon on the Zilkha cup being a vivid example. The Rothschild Collection sold at Christie’s, New York, 11-12 October 2023, included a dazzling array of silver-mounted nautilus cups. German-made cups included an example with turban shell, possibly by Melchior Blair, Augsburg, lot 145; a 1602-1606 cup by Blair with shell carved in Canton, lot 162; and a 1687-1691 Augsburg cup with shell carving attributed to Cornelius Bellekin, lot 167. A 1607 cup, mounted in Delft by Cornelius Jansz van der Burch, lot 20, is now in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art (acc. no. 2023.154). Baron Nathaniel von Rothschild’s nautilus cup, mark of Albrecht von Horn, Augsburg,1647-1651, was sold Christie’s, London, 4 July 2019, lot 2.
Nuremberg-born goldsmith Hans I Clauss (1596-1671) was apprenticed to celebrated Nuremberg goldsmith, Hans Pezolt, and became a master in 1627 at the age of 31. Clauss’ mark appears on a number of exuberant works incorporating natural elements such as nautilus shells and ostrich eggs, suggesting that he may have specialized in mounting these natural treasures as curious Kunstkammer vessels.
One striking ewer, circa 1630, formerly in the collection of John Pierpont Morgan and today preserved in the Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford (obj. no. 1917.272), is formed as an ostrich, with a natural ostrich egg mounted as its abdomen. A smaller nautilus cup and cover by Clauss, circa 1630, its stem formed as a kneeling figure of a Wodewose (wild man) supporting a tree stump on his back, formerly belonged to the collection of Siegfried and Lola Kramarsky, New York and was sold Christie’s, New York, 30 October 1991, lot 72.
Two further nautilus cups by Clauss with Wodewose-form stems are preserved in museum collections. The first, a circa 1645-1651 cup with it stem formed as a kneeling figure, his arm raised to support the shell and its wild-man finial, was formerly in the collection of the Erlanger family, Switzerland, and was acquired by the Detroit Institute of Arts in 2010 (acc. no. 2010.16). The second, a cup and cover with a striding Wodewose stem, made circa 1630-1632 likely as a wedding gift for Landgravine Sophie Juliane of Hesse-Kassel (1615-1670), is today preserved in the Staatliche Museum, Kassel (inv. no. KP B II.71).
M. Rosenberg records in his monograph, Der Goldschmiede Merkzeichen (Frankfurt am Main, 1925, vol. III, p. 212), that two additional nautilus cups by Clauss were present in the collection of the Armoury, Moscow, in 1884. A 1632-1643 nautilus cup, presented by King Christian IV of Denmark to Tsar Mikhail Fyodorovich in 1644, is currently in the collection of the Kremlin. Although it is currently attributed to Johannes Claub of Nuremberg, its similarity to the extant Clauss cups suggests that it is almost certainly one of the cups noted by Rosenberg.
ICONOGRAPHY
Of the known nautilus cups attributed to Clauss, the Kramarsky and Kassel examples are the most closely related to the Zilkha cup, and all three were likely created around the same time. Each is conceived with a figural stem supporting a shell enclosed by four caryatid strap bands, and a wide rim mount etched with mythological marine scenes. Furthermore, all three shells are mounted with cast figures at their shoulders, and the three covers are each chased with sea creatures swimming among swirling tides, below fully modeled finials. The marine iconography, particularly to the cover, relates to a suite of sixty etchings of grotesques by Christoph Jamnitzer, Nuremberg, circa 1610 (see J. Hayward, Virtuoso Goldsmiths, London, 1976, figs. 169 and 172.) Although the Zilkha cup shows strong similarities to its most comparable examples, the interplay of the modeled figures on its upper portion sets it apart, elevating it with a degree of virtuosity above its peers. While the Kramarsky cup features Neptune facing a rearing dragon, similar to the confronting Neptune and lion on the Zilkha cup, it lacks the Zilkha cup’s impending second confrontation, implied by another predator lurking in wait beneath the cover.
The Zilkha nautilus cup appears to be the only known example by Clauss with a satyr-form stem. The kneeling satyr, with his head angled to the right recalls the famous Farnese Atlas, a second-century Roman marble sculpture based on a Hellenistic statue, acquired in 1562 by Cardinal Alessandro Farnese for the Villa Farnese in Viterbo, Italy. With the rightward bend of his head, the Farnese Atlas acknowledges the observer while bearing the world on his shoulders. Mimicking the Atlas’ posture, the satyr of the Zilkha cup conveys to the viewer that he carries the magnificence of the precious shell above.
NAUTILUS CUPS
Nautilus shells mounted in silver were coveted in Europe from at least the thirteenth century, although there is evidence that nautilus shells arrived in Europe as early as the ninth century, as recorded in church treasury accounts (H. Mette, Der Nautiluspokal, Munich, 1995, p. 33). The precious shells were imported via Asian and Middle-Eastern trade networks, arriving in Europe in larger volumes once European traders reached the Spice Islands in the sixteenth century. The establishment of the Dutch East India Company, or VOC, in 1602, and its subsequent monopoly on the Spice Islands trade, afforded the Netherlands a monopoly over the import of nautilus shells, which were then almost exclusively imported through Amsterdam and sold on through Dutch merchants.
Hanns-Ulrich Mette’s catalogue of nautilus cups records 313 unique examples, most of which received silver mounts in the Netherlands or Germany, where the majority were produced in Augsburg and Nuremberg. While the vast majority of Dutch and German cups are modeled with similarly-conceived figural stems, each supporting a shell braced by strapwork, the two regions differ in their mounting of the upper shells. Dutch examples generally have protruding lip mounts which transform the shell into a grotesque goblet, while the German examples, by contrast, frame the shell as a platform onto which the silver mounts may enact narratives—the double-confrontation between Neptune, the lion and the dragon on the Zilkha cup being a vivid example. The Rothschild Collection sold at Christie’s, New York, 11-12 October 2023, included a dazzling array of silver-mounted nautilus cups. German-made cups included an example with turban shell, possibly by Melchior Blair, Augsburg, lot 145; a 1602-1606 cup by Blair with shell carved in Canton, lot 162; and a 1687-1691 Augsburg cup with shell carving attributed to Cornelius Bellekin, lot 167. A 1607 cup, mounted in Delft by Cornelius Jansz van der Burch, lot 20, is now in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art (acc. no. 2023.154). Baron Nathaniel von Rothschild’s nautilus cup, mark of Albrecht von Horn, Augsburg,1647-1651, was sold Christie’s, London, 4 July 2019, lot 2.