Georg Schweigger (1613-1680) After a model attributed to the circle of Hans Schwarz (1492-1550) German, Nuremberg, mid-17th century

indistinctly signed: Georg Schweigger and inscribed: ...153[?]4 on the reverse, and with a label on the reverse printed: G. / W. 21.

Baron Gustave de Rothschild (1829-1911);
Alain Moatti, Paris, France;
John R. Gaines, United Kingdom;
his sale, Morton&Eden, London, 8 December 2005, lot 43;
Lawrence Stack, London, United Kingdom;
his sale, Morton&Eden, London, 10 December 2009, lot 232

G. Habich, Die Deutschen Schaumünzen des XVI. Jahrhunderts, Munich, 1929, vol. 1, p. 47, fig. 59

Overall the condition of the stone is good, with minor wear and dirt to the surface consistent with age. The stone has darkened in areas, in particular in the crevices and there is very minor rubbing at the high points. There are a few small chips along the edges, including the brim of the hat, the truncation of the chest, and around the outer edge of the roundel. There is a larger chip to the outer edge beside the hat on the Emperor's proper left side. There are several chips and scratches to the reverse. There is a small filled hole at the top of the roundel above the head. There is some glue residue to the edge of the roundel at the top. The box is in good condition with some general wear. The lining is inscribed: S.J. Phillips Ltd / 139 New Bond St. / London, W. 1.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

This treasure of German Renaissance portraiture is a highly important signed work by the innovative Baroque sculptor and medallist, Georg Schweigger. Born in Nuremberg in 1613, Schweigger was at the forefront of a unique artistic movement in Germany which sought to emulate and adapt a style that had flourished only a hundred years previously - that of Albrecht Dürer and his contemporaries. Schweigger so revered the legacy of his early-sixteenth-century predecessors that some of his own works are virtually indistinguishable from theirs. Having restored a Crucifix by Veit Stoss in the church of St Sebald, the sculptor produced several crucified Christs in the style of the late Gothic master. A large part of his oeuvre was, however, devoted to the field of medal portraiture.

Though Schweigger sometimes invented original compositions inspired by Renaissance examples, the present medallion is a copy of an early 16th-century wood original attributed to the circle of the great medallist Hans Schwarz. As revealed by the inscription on the reverse of both original and copy, the sitter was a 26-year-old man by the name of Jacob W., perhaps identifiable as Jacob Welser III, a member of an important Nuremberg family of merchants. Distinguished by his large, fashionable hat, the young man appears somewhat more mature and assertive in Schweigger's version of the portrait.

A comparable signature to that on the reverse is found in a portrait medallion of a woman by Schweigger, also carved in Solnhofen stone, in the Staatliche Museen in Berlin (inv. no. 7766). As Bernhard Decker (op. cit., p. 126) argues, the 'freehand' style of the inscription served to underline the status of these 17th-century Renaissance-style medallions as artistic homages and collectors' objects, rather than as models for the casting of medals.

RELATED LITERATURE
H. Beck and B. Decker (eds.), Dürers Verwandlung in der Skulptur zwischen Renaissance und Barock, exh. cat. Liebieghaus, Frankfurt am Main, 1981