Carved in relief.

Good.

…; collection J.J. Bredius (1822-1894), Amsterdam; by whom donated to the Nederlandsch Museum voor Geschiedenis en Kunst, The Hague, 1880; transferred to the museum, 1885

Object number: BK-NM-5034-A

Credit line: Gift of J.J. Bredius, Amsterdam

These small mother-of-pearl medallions represent portraits, in relief, of the first twelve Roman emperors: Julius Caesar (shown here), Augustus (BK-NM-5034-B), Tiberius (BK-NM-5034-C), Caligula (BK-NM-5034-D), Claudius (BK-NM-5034-E), Nero (BK-NM-5034-F), Galba (BK-NM-5034-G), Otho (BK-NM-5034-H), Vitellius (BK-NM-5034-I), Vespasianus (BK-NM-5034-J), Titus (BK-NM-5034-K) and Domitianus (BK-NM-5034-L). They are shown in profile, the first six facing to the right and the other six facing to the left. The portraits are based on prints by Jan Caspar Philips (1680/1700-1775) in Kornelis Westerbaen’s massive publication Algemeene histori.¹¹Kornelis Westerbaen, Algemeene histori van het begin der wereld af tot den tegenwoordigen tijd toe, vol. 11, Utrecht 1745. For the relevant book prints in the collection of the Rijksprentenkabinet, Amsterdam, see: Julius Caesar (RP-P-1922-265), Augustus (RP-P-1922-264), Tiberius (RP-P-1922-266), Caligula (RP-P-1922-267), Claudius (RP-P-1907-4769), Nero (RP-P-1907-4768), Galba (RP-P-1922-268), Otho (RP-P-1907-4767), Vitellius (RP-P-1907-4766), Vespasianus (RP-P-1922-271), Titus (RP-P-1922-269) and Domitianus (RP-P-1922-270). The publishing date of the volume that was used (1745) provides a reliable terminus ante quem for the creation of the medallions, which like the book, were probably also made in the Northern Netherlands.

In the late seventeenth and the eighteenth century, carved portrait medallions were very popular with collectors, who often kept them in a special cabinet, called dactyliotheca.²²For examples see C. Theuerkauff, Die Bildwerke in Elfenbein des 16-19 Jahrhunderts (Staatliche Museen Preussischer Kulturbesitz: Die Bildwerke der Skulpturengalerie Berlin 2), coll. cat. Berlin 1986, pp. 308, 312 and I. Müsch, Maleremails des 16. und 17. Jahrhunderts aus Limoges, coll. cat Braunschweig (Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museums) 2002, pp. 11, 13, fig. 2. However, the significantly small size of the medallions featured here would suggest a different use, for example in a necklace. Emperors’ medallions of this type are usually made of ivory, enamel or precious stones. Mother-of-pearl versions like these are extremely rare and possibly typical of the Northern Netherlands, which had a long-standing tradition in the craft of mother-of-pearl carving.³³For mother-of-pearl carving in the Northern Netherlands, see W.H. van Seters, ‘Parelmoerkunstenaars in de 18de eeuw: Het werk van J.B. Barckhuysen, J.C. Konsé en C. la Motte’, Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek 17 (1966), pp. 247-63. The only other known series in this material is mentioned by the German scholar Zacharias Conrad von Uffenbach (1683-1734). In his travel journal the mentions a set of medallions with the first emperors and their companions carved in mother-of-pearl he saw in the collection of Petronella Oortmans (‘Frau del Court’) in Amsterdam, on 18 March 1711.⁴⁴Zacharias Conrad von Uffenbach, Merkwürdige Reisen durch Niedersachsen, Holland und Engelland, vol. 3, Ulm 1754, p. 649. It was said to have been made by one of the most celebrated mother-of-pearl carvers of the seventeenth century in the Northern Netherlands, Cornelis Bellekin (c. 1625?-1696/1711).⁵⁵Present whereabouts unknown, the same (?) set is mentioned in the catalogue of the sale Pieter Locquet, Amsterdam (Philippus van der Schley and Jan Yver), 22 September 1783, nos. 188 and 189.

Bieke van der Mark, 2025

J. Leeuwenberg with the assistance of W. Halsema-Kubes, Beeldhouwkunst in het Rijksmuseum, coll. cat. Amsterdam 1973, no. 417, with earlier literature; C. Theuerkauff, Die Bildwerke in Elfenbein des 16-19 Jahrhunderts (Staatliche Museen Preussischer Kulturbesitz: Die Bildwerke der Skulpturengalerie Berlin 2), coll. cat. Berlin 1986, p. 312; K.A. Möller, Elfenbein: Kunstwerke des Barock, coll. cat. Schwerin (Staatliches Museum) 2000, p. 254, note 2

B. van der Mark, 2025, 'anonymous, Portrait Medallion of Julius Caesar (100-44 BC), Northern Netherlands, c. 1745 - c. 1800', in F. Scholten and B. van der Mark (eds.), European Sculpture in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/20037825