Ornamental shield made from an elk’s antler

Shield from the Antler of an Elk

BK-16990

Gewei van een eland. Het brede vlakke gedeelte is aan een zijde omrand door een uitgesleten band versierd met in reliëf zich herhalende vogels en leeuwen. De acht vertakkingen zijn bewerkt tot draken, leeuwtjes etc. Van de roos is een soort leeuwenkop gesneden. Versieringen in Romaanse stijl. Een der vertakkingen ontbreekt, een tweede is afgebroken.

• C. Abel, 'Essai sur d'anciens ivoires sculptés de la cathédrale de Metz', Mémoires de la Société d'Archeologie et d'Histoire de la Moselle (1868), p. 248-249
• Ekaterina Nekrasova-Shedrinksy, Il destino delle opere della collezione Basilewsky, in: 'L'Ermitage di Basilewsky. Il collezionista di meraviglie', Torino 2013, pp. 32-41, p. 39-40, afb. p. 40.

• sculptor: anoniem, Meuse area
• sculptor: anoniem, Lotharingen
• sculptor: anoniem, Metz (possibly)

c. 975 - c. 1050

elandhoorn

height 79 cm x width 52 cm

Public domain

…; ? funerary chapel of Emperor Louis the Pious (778-840), old abbey of Saint-Arnoul, Metz; ? transferred to the new abbey of Saint-Arnoul, Metz, 1552;{After the destruction of the old Benedictine abbey of Saint-Arnould in Metz by Emperor Charles V´s troops in 1552, Louis the Pious´s remains and sarcophagus were transferred to the abbey´s new location within the confines of the nearby Dominican abbey, which as a result was now in the hands of the emperor and the Benedictines. There a new funerary monument for Louis was to be built, likewise housing the furnishings from the interior of Louis´s former funerary chapel. Possibly included among these items was the present elk antler. See I. Bardiès, `Sarcophage de Louis de Pieux´, in I. Bardiès, F. Heber-Suffrin and P.-É. Wagner, _Le chemin des reliques: Témoignages précieux et ordinaires de la vie religieuse à Metz au moyen âge-_, exh. cat. Metz (Musées de la Cour d´Or) 2000-01_, pp. 23-26, esp. p. 24 (with ill.). Louis´s funerary monument was again moved in 1672, due to the renovation of the abbey church´s high altar.} sold, with other items from the imperial funerary chapel, 1792/93;{I. Bardiès, `Sarcophage de Louis de Pieux´, in I. Bardiès, F. Heber-Suffrin and P.-É. Wagner, _Le chemin des reliques: Témoignages précieux et ordinaires de la vie religieuse à Metz au moyen âge_, exh. cat. Metz (Musées de la Cour d´Or) 2000-01_, pp. 23-26, esp. p. 25.}…; collection Philippe-Antoine Paguet (1768-1854), Metz, before 1834;{E. Bégin, _Guide de l´étranger à Metz_, Metz 1834, p. 245.} inherited by Caroline Barbe Carré de Malberg-Colchen, Metz, 1854; {I. Bardiès, `Sarcophage de Louis de Pieux´, in I. Bardiès, F. Heber-Suffrin and P.-É. Wagner, _Le chemin des reliques: Témoignages précieux et ordinaires de la vie religieuse à Metz au moyen âge_, exh. cat. Metz (Musées de la Cour d´Or) 2000-01_, pp. 23-26, esp. p. 25. Philippe Antoine Paguet died childless, leaving his collection to the children of his niece, Marie Charlotte, daughter of his sister, Elisabeth Charlotte. Marie Charlotte (1803-1885) married Dominique François Victor Colchen (d. 1867) in 1826. Together they lived on the Place des Charrons in Metz. The couple´s son, Marie Etienne Léon Colchen (1837-?), was designated as Paguet´s universal heir. Upon entering the Dominican order, however, he was obliged to relinquish his right of inheritance, which then was reassigned to his sister, Caroline Barbe. It was ultimately her husband, Jacques-Paul Carré de Malberg, whom she had married in 1849, who organized the sale of Paguet´s collection at Drouot after the death of his father-in-law in 1867. With thanks to Pierre-Édouard Wagner, Metz, for this biographical information. See also J. de Hond and F. Scholten, `The Elk Antler from the Funerary Chapel of Louis the Pious in Metz´, _The Burlington Magazine_ 155 (2013), pp. 372-80, esp. p. 373.} sale, Paguet collection, Paris (Drouot), 8 and 9 February 1867, no. 2, Ffrs 8,550, to the dealer Joseph-Henri Delange, Paris; ? from whom purchased by Prince Alexander Petrovich Basilevsky (1829-1885), Paris; from whom, Ffrs 5,500,000, with the rest of his collection en bloc, to Tsar Alexander III of Russia, 1884;{Provenance 840-1884 reconstructed by J. de Hond and F. Scholten, `The Elk Antler from the Funerary Chapel of Louis the Pious in Metz´, _The Burlington Magazine_ 155 (2013), pp. 372-80, esp. pp. 372-73.} …; collection Dr Fritz Mannheimer (1890-1939), Amsterdam and Paris, after September 1933 and before 1936;{B.B. Piotrovski, _History of the Hermitage. Short overview. Materials and Documents_, Moscow 2000 (original in Russian), p. 400 (cited in a list of first-class paintings and objects of applied art, transferred to Antikvariat or sent to Moscow, under section 2 (`Applied arts´): _een ongelooflijk gebeeldhouwd been, 9de-10de eeuw (A)_(an amazingly sculpted bone, 9th-10th century), whereby `A´ states that it was transferred to Antikvariat); N.M. Serapina and B.S. Davydov, _The Hermitage We Lost. Documents 1920-1930_, St Petersburg 2001 (original in Russian), p. 332 (List K, no. 2119/S (List of antique objects from the Hermitage to be sold by order of the State), dated 15 September 1933, no. 10: _Carved elk horn, Western work from the 10th century, Cat. Basilevsky, no. 52, plate II 12.000,-- Rubles_); O. von Falke, _Katalog der Sammlung F[ritz] M[annheimer]_, Amsterdam 1936, p. 166, no. P.50. With thanks to Janneke Martens, Rijksmuseum, for kindly sharing this Russian literature.} purchased from his estate, en bloc, by the Dienststelle Mühlmann, The Hague, for Adolf Hitler´s Führermuseum, Linz, 1940;{E.J. Korthals Altes, _Verzameling Mannheimer_, Amsterdam 1974, pp. 21-22.} war recuperation, SNK, 1945;{HNA, SNK Archive, 2.08.42, inv. no. 548.} on loan, with 1,702 other objects, from the DRVK to the museum, 1952;{Note RMA.} transferred to the museum, 1960

Please note that this provenance was formulated with a special focus on provenance research for the years 1933-45 and could therefore be incomplete. There may be more (mostly earlier) provenance information known in the museum. In case this item has an uncertain or incomplete provenance for the years 1933-45, the Rijksmuseum welcomes information and assistance in the investigation and clarification of the provenance of all works during that era.

• C. Abel, 'Essai sur d'anciens ivoires sculptés de la cathédrale de Metz', Mémoires de la Société d'Archeologie et d'Histoire de la Moselle (1868), p. 248-249
• Ekaterina Nekrasova-Shedrinksy, Il destino delle opere della collezione Basilewsky, in: 'L'Ermitage di Basilewsky. Il collezionista di meraviglie', Torino 2013, pp. 32-41, p. 39-40, afb. p. 40.

To refer to this object, please use the following persistent URL:

https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/200391656