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拍品专文
THE MANUELINE STYLE
Flagons of this form are typical of Portugal and "are perhaps the most coveted objects in the entire range of decorative Peninsula art productions" (J. C. Robinson, The Special loan Exhibition of Spanish and Portuguese Ornamental Art, London, 1881, p. 12). Stylistically, the present lot displays all the characteristics of the Portuguese late gothic style, known as Manueline style, which lasted until the 1540s. This style, born during the reign of King Manuel (1495-1521), was in fact neither Gothic nor Renaissance. Instead it was a revival of the Romanesque "overlaid by great exuberance of decoration" (Exhibition of Portuguese Art 800-1800, Royal Academy of Arts, London,1955-56, p. xi), which made it unique and recognizable with dense ornamentation, seen here in the large seemingly entwined and overlapping foliage. The dragon or other fantastically formed spouts and handles, meanwhile, are borrowed from the ornamental repertoire the Medieval period. Interestingly, this latter unique ornament is described in the 1534 Treasure inventory of Dom Joao III (A. Braamcamp Freire, Cartas de Quitacao del Rei Dom Manuel, Archivo Historico Português, Vol. VIII, 1910 pp. 261-280 and 367-390) as spouts "in fish" or "lizard wings with a salamander in its mouth," spouts of "artichokes with their seeds enameled," or even a "serpent's spout with winged at its head" (N. Vassallo E Silva, 15th and 16th century Portuguese ceremonial silver, Lisbon, 2012, p. 145). This last description matches that of the present flagon, as well as that of one in the Cathedral of Seville known as the Aguamanil de la Sierpe. Similarly covered in flowers and foliage, but with a frieze depicting a race around the body, it also has a crown motif below the body and on the cover, as well as the distinctive dragon spout and handle.
ONE OF SIX EXTANT FLAGONS
Only six flagons of this type, with slight variations, are currently recorded in public collections, with the present lot being the only example with a maker's mark. Two flagons are in the Palácio Nacional da Ajuda, Museu do Tesouro Real, Lisbon, one with the spout and handle in the form of a tree trunk with clambering figures, the other with the handle in the form of fishes and human figures. A third is in Coimbra Cathedral, and a fourth example is in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, bequeathed by Michael Wellby in 2012 and resembling the example in Lisbon, with a handle also formed from clambering figures on a tree trunk. The closest flagon in design to the present lot is the previously discussed Aguamanil de la Sierpe held in the Cathedral of Seville.
THE COAT-OF-ARMS OF JOHANN ARBOGAST I VON THUN UND HOHENSTEIN (1568-1633)
Coats-of-arms are in general a means to identify the owner of an object, whether the donor or the recipient. As these precious objects were hugely tradable, the coats-of-arms were generally on enameled plaques so as to be easily removed and replaced. For example, the flagon in the Cathedral of Coimbra displays the later arms of D. Friar Alvaro de Bonaventura dating to the late 17th century, a clear replacement. The present flagon is also applied with a later replaced coat-of-arms, those of the von Thun-Hohenstein.
The feudal family of von Thun-Hohenstein originated in Ton, Trentino, formerly an Italian-speaking part of Tyrol, now part of the Italian province of Trentino; the male line goes back to Manfreinus de Tunno in 1187. In 1469, they became hereditary Cup-bearers of the Prince-Bishop of Trento, and in 1558 of the Prince-Bishop of Brixen. All the men in the family received the title of Baron in 1604, and Counts of the Holy Roman Empire (Reichsgraf) in 1629. The title of Prince (Fürst) was conferred on the head of the family, in the style of Durchlaucht (Serene Highness), in the Austrian Empire in 1911. They were hereditary members of the Austrian 'House of Lords,' entitled to possession of the entailed seigneury of Tetschen since 1879. In 1621, the family acquired the castle of Klášterec nad Ohří, Bohemia, in 1629 Jílové u Děčína (Eulau), expropriated in 1946. From the second half of the 17th century, the family owned the castle of Děčín (German: Tetschen), then the family's main seat until it was sold in 1932. Later, they also acquired Choltice Castle and Benátky nad Jizerou Castle, as well as several palaces in Prague. In 1628, the family obtained the title of count, which from 1629 was associated with the fiefdom of Hohenstein. From 1642 onwards, with the loss of their property, the feud remained an integral part of the Thun und Hohenstein family name, but the family's interests were concentrated in Bohemia, leaving another line to continue the house in the Tyrol.
Flagons of this form are typical of Portugal and "are perhaps the most coveted objects in the entire range of decorative Peninsula art productions" (J. C. Robinson, The Special loan Exhibition of Spanish and Portuguese Ornamental Art, London, 1881, p. 12). Stylistically, the present lot displays all the characteristics of the Portuguese late gothic style, known as Manueline style, which lasted until the 1540s. This style, born during the reign of King Manuel (1495-1521), was in fact neither Gothic nor Renaissance. Instead it was a revival of the Romanesque "overlaid by great exuberance of decoration" (Exhibition of Portuguese Art 800-1800, Royal Academy of Arts, London,1955-56, p. xi), which made it unique and recognizable with dense ornamentation, seen here in the large seemingly entwined and overlapping foliage. The dragon or other fantastically formed spouts and handles, meanwhile, are borrowed from the ornamental repertoire the Medieval period. Interestingly, this latter unique ornament is described in the 1534 Treasure inventory of Dom Joao III (A. Braamcamp Freire, Cartas de Quitacao del Rei Dom Manuel, Archivo Historico Português, Vol. VIII, 1910 pp. 261-280 and 367-390) as spouts "in fish" or "lizard wings with a salamander in its mouth," spouts of "artichokes with their seeds enameled," or even a "serpent's spout with winged at its head" (N. Vassallo E Silva, 15th and 16th century Portuguese ceremonial silver, Lisbon, 2012, p. 145). This last description matches that of the present flagon, as well as that of one in the Cathedral of Seville known as the Aguamanil de la Sierpe. Similarly covered in flowers and foliage, but with a frieze depicting a race around the body, it also has a crown motif below the body and on the cover, as well as the distinctive dragon spout and handle.
ONE OF SIX EXTANT FLAGONS
Only six flagons of this type, with slight variations, are currently recorded in public collections, with the present lot being the only example with a maker's mark. Two flagons are in the Palácio Nacional da Ajuda, Museu do Tesouro Real, Lisbon, one with the spout and handle in the form of a tree trunk with clambering figures, the other with the handle in the form of fishes and human figures. A third is in Coimbra Cathedral, and a fourth example is in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, bequeathed by Michael Wellby in 2012 and resembling the example in Lisbon, with a handle also formed from clambering figures on a tree trunk. The closest flagon in design to the present lot is the previously discussed Aguamanil de la Sierpe held in the Cathedral of Seville.
THE COAT-OF-ARMS OF JOHANN ARBOGAST I VON THUN UND HOHENSTEIN (1568-1633)
Coats-of-arms are in general a means to identify the owner of an object, whether the donor or the recipient. As these precious objects were hugely tradable, the coats-of-arms were generally on enameled plaques so as to be easily removed and replaced. For example, the flagon in the Cathedral of Coimbra displays the later arms of D. Friar Alvaro de Bonaventura dating to the late 17th century, a clear replacement. The present flagon is also applied with a later replaced coat-of-arms, those of the von Thun-Hohenstein.
The feudal family of von Thun-Hohenstein originated in Ton, Trentino, formerly an Italian-speaking part of Tyrol, now part of the Italian province of Trentino; the male line goes back to Manfreinus de Tunno in 1187. In 1469, they became hereditary Cup-bearers of the Prince-Bishop of Trento, and in 1558 of the Prince-Bishop of Brixen. All the men in the family received the title of Baron in 1604, and Counts of the Holy Roman Empire (Reichsgraf) in 1629. The title of Prince (Fürst) was conferred on the head of the family, in the style of Durchlaucht (Serene Highness), in the Austrian Empire in 1911. They were hereditary members of the Austrian 'House of Lords,' entitled to possession of the entailed seigneury of Tetschen since 1879. In 1621, the family acquired the castle of Klášterec nad Ohří, Bohemia, in 1629 Jílové u Děčína (Eulau), expropriated in 1946. From the second half of the 17th century, the family owned the castle of Děčín (German: Tetschen), then the family's main seat until it was sold in 1932. Later, they also acquired Choltice Castle and Benátky nad Jizerou Castle, as well as several palaces in Prague. In 1628, the family obtained the title of count, which from 1629 was associated with the fiefdom of Hohenstein. From 1642 onwards, with the loss of their property, the feud remained an integral part of the Thun und Hohenstein family name, but the family's interests were concentrated in Bohemia, leaving another line to continue the house in the Tyrol.