Table ornament

Wenzel Jamnitzer, 1549

This table ornament is an ode to the Earth and all that it brings forth, as well as an unsurpassed display of artistic and technical skill. The stem of the dish represents Mother Earth. She is surrounded by flowers, herbs and small animals – all cast from specimens collected in the wild. The lives of actual animals were sacrificed to model the young grass snakes and lizards.

Artwork typetable piece
Object numberBK-17040-A
Dimensionsheight 99.8 cm x diameter 46.0 cm

Stories

Uniting art and nature

Crawly creatures in the Kunstkammer (‘art chamber’)

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more by Wenzel Jamnitzer

Plaquette van de Merkelsche Tafelaufsatz

Wenzel Jamnitzer

Balance standard with a counterweight

attributed to workshop of Wenzel Jamnitzer

Balance standard with a counterweight

attributed to workshop of Wenzel Jamnitzer

Identification

Title(s)
Merkelsche Tafelaufsatz
Object type
Object number
BK-17040-A
Description
Tafelstuk van grotendeels verguld en geëmailleerd zilver. Op een drielobbig voetstuk, waarop drie schildpadden zijn bevestigd, is een begroeiing van naar de natuur afgegoten gewassen aangebracht. Daaruit rijst, op een platvorm een staande vrouwenfiguur (Moeder Aarde), die met hooggeheven handen de basis van een breed uitstaand bekken ondersteunt, waarvan de buiten- en binnenkant bewerkt zijn met geschilderd renaissanceornament, terwijl om de rand allerlei naturalistisch bladwerk en kronkelende hagedissen om rolwerkbanderolles zijn geslingerd. In het midden van de schaal dragen drie ruggelings geplaatste sirenen een geëmailleerde vaas met bloemtakken.
Inscriptions / marks
- town mark: ‘N’
- maker's mark
Catalogue reference
- Klaus Pechstein, 'Zur Nürnberger Goldschmiedekunst der Renaissance', in: cat. tent. Nürnberg 1985, p. 25-36.
- Ernst Kris, Le Style rustique. Le moulage d’après nature chez Wenzel Jamnitzer et Bernard Palissy, Patricia Falguières éd., Paris, 2005.
- Ernst Kris, '"Der Stil ‘Rustique"’. Die Verwendung des Naturabgusses bei Wenzel Jamnitzer und Bernard Palissy', Jahrbuch der Kunsthistorischen Sammlungen in Wien, Neue Folge, I (1926), p. 137-208.
- Hermann Schadt, Goldschmiedekusnt. 5000 Jahre Schmuck und Gerät, Stuttgart 1996, p. 112.
- Dora Thornton, 'From Waddesdon to the British Museum. Baron Ferdinand Rothschild and his cabinet collection' in: Journal of the History of Collections, Bd. 13, dl. 2, 2001, p. 191-213.
- J. van Bennekom, Q. Lemasson, L. Pichon, B. Moignard and A. Pappot, ‘The Merkel centrepiece by Wenzel Jamnitzer: proving the existence of a previously unknown inscription using the Aglae pixe mapping system’ in Art Matters, International Journal for Technical Art History 6 (2014), 1-10. http://artmattersjournal.org/images/past_issues/volume_6/01-AM-Bennekom-v2.pdf , 8 maart 2016.
- Fieke Tissink, 'Uitgelijnd : Tafelstuk', Rijksmuseum Kunstkrant 27 (2001) nr. 4, p. 10-11.

Creation

Creation
maker: Wenzel Jamnitzer, Neurenberg
Dating
1549
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Material and technique

Material
Technique
Dimensions
height 99.8 cm x diameter 46.0 cm

This work is about

Subject

Acquisition and rights

Copyright
Public domain
Provenance
…; from the Duke of Hamilton, possibly for 800,000 RM, to Mayer Carl von Rothschild (1820-1886), Frankfurt, 1880;{Note RMA; Glanville 2003-2004, p. 37.} his daughter, Thèrese, Baroness James de Rothschild (1847-1931), Frankfurt and Paris, 1912, 1928;{Jones 1912, Pl. I , Introduction; Jones, 1928, p.180, Pl. L, no. 1.} her son Henri de Rothschild;{Weltkunst 1937, p. 42.} from whom to a consortium of dealers for Fritz Mannheimer(1890-1939), Amsterdam and Paris;{Weltkunst 1937, p. 42.} from whose estate purchased, en bloc, by the Dienststelle Mühlmann, The Hague, for Adolf Hitler's Führermuseum, Linz, 1940;{Korthals Altes 1974, pp. 21-22.} war recuperation, SNK, 1945;{HNA, SNK Archive, 2.08.42, inv. no. 548.} on loan, with xx other objects, from the DRVK to the museum, 1952;{Note RMA.} transferred to the museum, 1960
Remarks
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.

Documentation

- Klaus Pechstein, 'Zur Nürnberger Goldschmiedekunst der Renaissance', in: cat. tent. Nürnberg 1985, p. 25-36.
- Ernst Kris, Le Style rustique. Le moulage d’après nature chez Wenzel Jamnitzer et Bernard Palissy, Patricia Falguières éd., Paris, 2005.
- Ernst Kris, '"Der Stil ‘Rustique"’. Die Verwendung des Naturabgusses bei Wenzel Jamnitzer und Bernard Palissy', Jahrbuch der Kunsthistorischen Sammlungen in Wien, Neue Folge, I (1926), p. 137-208.
- Hermann Schadt, Goldschmiedekusnt. 5000 Jahre Schmuck und Gerät, Stuttgart 1996, p. 112.
- Dora Thornton, 'From Waddesdon to the British Museum. Baron Ferdinand Rothschild and his cabinet collection' in: Journal of the History of Collections, Bd. 13, dl. 2, 2001, p. 191-213.
- J. van Bennekom, Q. Lemasson, L. Pichon, B. Moignard and A. Pappot, ‘The Merkel centrepiece by Wenzel Jamnitzer: proving the existence of a previously unknown inscription using the Aglae pixe mapping system’ in Art Matters, International Journal for Technical Art History 6 (2014), 1-10. http://artmattersjournal.org/images/past_issues/volume_6/01-AM-Bennekom-v2.pdf , 8 maart 2016.
- Fieke Tissink, 'Uitgelijnd : Tafelstuk', Rijksmuseum Kunstkrant 27 (2001) nr. 4, p. 10-11.

Related objects

Parts
Related

Persistent URL

To refer to this object, please use the following persistent URL:
https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/200113559