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Lot Essay
Dating to the late nineteenth century, this rock crystal chimera is derived from a series of similar zoomorphic ornaments, often ewers, carved from rock crystal or other hardstones in the form of fantastic beasts or sea monsters, created in the late sixteenth or early seventeenth century by Milanese craftsman. With no local court to supply, Milanese artists fulfilled commissions from all over Italy, from Madrid and from the major cities North of the Alps. The Saracchi brothers, Milanese hardstone carvers, were commissioned by Albrecht V and Wilhelm V in Munich, whilst Emperor Rudolf II was successful in bringing members of another prominent family of glyptic artists - the Miseroni - from Milan to Prague.
Made in Vienna in the late nineteenth century, the present example is specifically derived from three known Renaissance examples:
- Two table-fountains in the form of lion dragons in the Kunst Historisches Museum, Vienna (one of which is signed and dated ‘Ferdinadt Misiron fecit 1676’, inventory numbers 2330 and 2331).
- A Chimera, described as Milanese and circa 1650, in the Thyssen-Bornemisza collection (illustrated in A. Somers Cocks & C. Truman, The Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection: Renaissance Jewellery, Gold Boxes and Objets de Vertu, London, 1984, cat. no. 38, pp. 154-155).
The Chimera is a fire-breathing monster with a lion’s head, winged goat’s body and a serpent’s tail, however a chimera has come to describe any mythical or fictional animal with parts taken from various animals. The Ancient Greek poets Homer and Hesiod describe the Chimera as an offspring of Typhon and Echidna and a sibling of such monsters as Cerberus and the Lernaean Hydra. In Medieval art, although the Chimera of antiquity was forgotten, chimerical figures appear as embodiments of the deceptive, even satanic forces of raw nature.
Although the seeing of a Chimera had been an omen for disaster, by the Renaissance it had come to symbolise anything composed of very disparate parts, or perceived as wildly imaginative, implausible, or dazzling. The rendering of the chimera in rock crystal is therefore doubly apt, in that rock crystal is very hard and difficult to carve, and therefore embodies the chimera as a thing which is hoped for but is illusory or impossible to achieve.
As with many other minerals, rock crystal is thought to hold mystical powers which can aid its owner. This was particularly true in that rock crystal - which was both 'invisible' and incredibly durable - seemed to represent that interim state between the seen and unseen worlds. For Christians in particular, rock crystal had associations with the conception of Christ, where the rock crystal represented the pure receptacle which was the Virgin, receiving the light of her Son. From the very earliest civilisations, rock crystal has therefore been crafted into jewellery, sculptures and vessels. One of the high points of its use was certainly in the sixteenth century, when princely courts commissioned Milanese makers to produce fantastic rock crystal objects to display their sophistication and wealth. One of the greatest repositories of these objects today is the collection of the French Dauphin, son of Louis XIV, which was inherited by the Dauphin's son, Philip V of Spain, and which is now housed in the Prado, Madrid.
The nineteenth century brought a renewed interest in the past and a new enthusiasm for the Gothic style revived appreciation of medieval and Renaissance objects. This historicism, although imbued with sentiment, showed a fervent regard for the past and a desire to recreate its forms. Subject to renewed appreciation, works of art were restored, often beyond the point of conservation, and copied with variations – their beauty thus interpreted through nineteenth century eyes. Masters of this were Reinhold Vasters (1827-1909), who restored and remounted sixteenth century rock crystal objects as well as creating derivative variants entirely of nineteenth century origin, and Herman Ratzersdorfer (1817-1881); son of an antiques dealer who found it more lucrative to imitate, rather than restore, Renaissance works of art. Ratzersdorfer’s production fast became much in demand and was legitimized by his ‘HR’ hallmark and by submissions to the ‘Great Exhibitions’ of the 19th century, beginning with the 1851 Crystal Palace in London, and crowned by his much applauded display at the 1873 Vienna World’s Fair. Closely related objects to the present lot, both by Ratzersdorfer, include a winged hippocamp sold Christie’s, London 25 November 2008, lot 81 (£91,000) and an ostrich sold Christie’s, New York, 21 October 2003, lot 159 ($197,900).
Made in Vienna in the late nineteenth century, the present example is specifically derived from three known Renaissance examples:
- Two table-fountains in the form of lion dragons in the Kunst Historisches Museum, Vienna (one of which is signed and dated ‘Ferdinadt Misiron fecit 1676’, inventory numbers 2330 and 2331).
- A Chimera, described as Milanese and circa 1650, in the Thyssen-Bornemisza collection (illustrated in A. Somers Cocks & C. Truman, The Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection: Renaissance Jewellery, Gold Boxes and Objets de Vertu, London, 1984, cat. no. 38, pp. 154-155).
The Chimera is a fire-breathing monster with a lion’s head, winged goat’s body and a serpent’s tail, however a chimera has come to describe any mythical or fictional animal with parts taken from various animals. The Ancient Greek poets Homer and Hesiod describe the Chimera as an offspring of Typhon and Echidna and a sibling of such monsters as Cerberus and the Lernaean Hydra. In Medieval art, although the Chimera of antiquity was forgotten, chimerical figures appear as embodiments of the deceptive, even satanic forces of raw nature.
Although the seeing of a Chimera had been an omen for disaster, by the Renaissance it had come to symbolise anything composed of very disparate parts, or perceived as wildly imaginative, implausible, or dazzling. The rendering of the chimera in rock crystal is therefore doubly apt, in that rock crystal is very hard and difficult to carve, and therefore embodies the chimera as a thing which is hoped for but is illusory or impossible to achieve.
As with many other minerals, rock crystal is thought to hold mystical powers which can aid its owner. This was particularly true in that rock crystal - which was both 'invisible' and incredibly durable - seemed to represent that interim state between the seen and unseen worlds. For Christians in particular, rock crystal had associations with the conception of Christ, where the rock crystal represented the pure receptacle which was the Virgin, receiving the light of her Son. From the very earliest civilisations, rock crystal has therefore been crafted into jewellery, sculptures and vessels. One of the high points of its use was certainly in the sixteenth century, when princely courts commissioned Milanese makers to produce fantastic rock crystal objects to display their sophistication and wealth. One of the greatest repositories of these objects today is the collection of the French Dauphin, son of Louis XIV, which was inherited by the Dauphin's son, Philip V of Spain, and which is now housed in the Prado, Madrid.
The nineteenth century brought a renewed interest in the past and a new enthusiasm for the Gothic style revived appreciation of medieval and Renaissance objects. This historicism, although imbued with sentiment, showed a fervent regard for the past and a desire to recreate its forms. Subject to renewed appreciation, works of art were restored, often beyond the point of conservation, and copied with variations – their beauty thus interpreted through nineteenth century eyes. Masters of this were Reinhold Vasters (1827-1909), who restored and remounted sixteenth century rock crystal objects as well as creating derivative variants entirely of nineteenth century origin, and Herman Ratzersdorfer (1817-1881); son of an antiques dealer who found it more lucrative to imitate, rather than restore, Renaissance works of art. Ratzersdorfer’s production fast became much in demand and was legitimized by his ‘HR’ hallmark and by submissions to the ‘Great Exhibitions’ of the 19th century, beginning with the 1851 Crystal Palace in London, and crowned by his much applauded display at the 1873 Vienna World’s Fair. Closely related objects to the present lot, both by Ratzersdorfer, include a winged hippocamp sold Christie’s, London 25 November 2008, lot 81 (£91,000) and an ostrich sold Christie’s, New York, 21 October 2003, lot 159 ($197,900).