Hôtel Lambert, Une Collection Princière, Volume II : Kunstkammer
Hôtel Lambert, Une Collection Princière, Volume II : Kunstkammer
A large German parcel-gilt silver candlestick, Andreas Wickert, Augsburg, 1649-1653
Auction Closed
October 12, 05:41 PM GMT
Estimate
60,000 - 80,000 EUR
Lot Details
Description
A large German parcel-gilt silver candlestick, Andreas Wickert, Augsburg, 1649-1653
on richly embossed base with shells, the stem shaped as figures of Venus and Cupid, detachable large nozzle engraved with six stylised shells, the underside of the base engraved No. 21 – Gr: D. Sh: 3 f 76 zol : No. I'
height 16 9/16 in.; 42 cm; weight 55,4 oz.; 1570 g.
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Important flambeau en argent et vermeil par Andreas Wickert, Augsbourg, 1649-1653
sur une base repousée de coquillages, le fût representant Vénus et Cupidon, la bobéche amovible gravée de six coquilles stylisées, gravé sous la base No. 21 – Gr: D. Sh: 3 f 76 zol : No. I'
height 16 9/16 in.; 42 cm; weight 55,4 oz.; 1570 g.
Presumably Elsa Essberger (1898-1977) collection, Hamburg; her sale: Hans W. Lange, 12. and 13. Mai 1942, lot 335
Private collection, Germany
D. Van Haeke, Bonn, acquired from the above
Dr. Dr. István Heller
Sotheby's London, 04 December 2012, lot 93
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Provenant vraisemblablement de la collection d'Elsa Essberger (1898-1977), Hambourg ; sa vente : Hans W. Lange, 12. et 13. Mai 1942, lot 335
Collection privée, Allemagne
D. Van Haeke, Bonn, acquis auprès des personnes mentionnées ci-dessus.
Dr. Dr. István Heller
Sotheby's Londres, 04 décembre 2012, lot 93
Istvan Heller, Venus-Leuchter, in Weltkunst 3, 2004, pp. 74-75
The candlestick has lost approximately 20gr since it was inscribed on the base. The weight of 3 funt 76 Zolotniki indicated by the inscription is the equivalant of 1550gr (There were 96 zolodniki in a funt, and a funt weighed approximately 409gr). The otherwise unidentified 'Gr D. Sh' may have a Russian link; Andreas Wickert I was clearly favoured by whoever coordinated orders for Augsburg silver in Russia, as evidenced by the number of pieces by this master in the Kremlin museum.
Wickert (master 1629) appears to have been an Augsburg citizen of some importance. He was an elected member of the Goldsmiths' Guild, Assay Master, and a member of the Great Council of the City. The majority of surviving recorded pieces from his workshop are mounted ivory tankards, for which Augsburg was renowned.
A large silver-gilt dish bearing Wickert's mark was sold in 1817 to George IV by the royal goldsmiths, Rundell, Bridge & Rundell. In The Gold and Silver of Windsor Castle (Letchworth, 1911, pp. lvj and 8, pl. IV), E. Alfred Jones remarks that, ‘German plate of the seventeenth century is further represented [in the Royal Collection] by a large oval dish of about 1645 decorated in the middle with a scene representing the Deluge and on the border with Noah and groups of animals, which is by an Augsburg craftsman, believed to be Andreas Wickhart [sic] the elder. The maker of this piece is noted for the large number of carved ivory tankards mounted in silver by him, preserved in the royal collections of the emperor of Russia, the grand duke of Baden and the king of Saxony, as well as in the royal museums at Cassel and Gotha. This list may be supplemented by the large ivory tankard belonging to prince Esterhazy at Vienna, which is carved with the favourite subject of Esther before Ahasuerus. Although the silver work on these and many other carved ivory cups and tankards is stamped with what is in many examples an unimportant piece of information, namely an indication of the name of the maker, it is impossible to answer the highly dubious question whether the silversmith was also a worker in ivory.’