Pewter Dish by Caspar Enderlein, Minutolisches Institut Liegnitz thumbnail 1
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
Request to view at the Prints & Drawings Study Room, level F , Case X, Shelf 285

Pewter Dish by Caspar Enderlein, Minutolisches Institut Liegnitz

Photograph
ca. 1855 (photographed)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

The Prussian baron Alexander von Minutoli (1806-87) often sent his model collection to schools of the applied arts. The objects, however, suffered from this treatment. Thus he commissioned photographic reproductions to circulate instead. The first trial with Daguerreotypes failed, because these were relatively fragile and also suffered from frequent moving. (Daguerrotype was the first commercially available form of photography, introduced in 1839. Each photograph was a one-off, appearing on a silvered copper plate.) In 1853 Minutoli engaged Ludwig Belitski to make a photographic reproduction on paper. Belitski was a photographer from Liegnitz in Silesia (now Legnica, Poland). He earned international fame from Minutoli’s large commission (seven folio-sized volumes with 663 plates) and won awards in Brussels and Amsterdam in 1855 and 1856. The Venetian glass here was photographed in bright sunlight.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitlePewter Dish by Caspar Enderlein, Minutolisches Institut Liegnitz (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Salted paper print
Brief description
Photograph by Ludwig Belitski, 'Pewter Dish by Caspar Enderlein, Minutolisches Institut Liegnitz', salted paper print, ca. 1855
Physical description
A mounted sepia-coloured photograph of a embossed metal platter.
Dimensions
  • Image height: 20.8cm
  • Image width: 18.8cm
  • Mount height: 33cm
  • Mount width: 26.7cm
Marks and inscriptions
  • 'Enderlein, Caspar (d. 1633) / Dish, pewter. / Institut Minutoli, Liegnitz' (ink, lower right mount)
  • 'X. 285 / LIEGNITZ: Minutolisches / Institut.' (printed label, upper right mount)
  • 'Minutoli. / Vorbilder fur Handwerker. / Part. 1. / 1855' (printed, ink, verso mount)
Gallery label
Cast Courts Reinstallation, 27 November 2018 3. PHOTOGRAPH OF The Temperance Basin Ludwig Belitski, Minutolisches Institut, Liegnitz (modern day Legnica), about 1853) During the 1850s, the Museum acquired hundreds of photographs depicting the collection of the Prussian baron, Alexander von Minutoli. They included this image of one of Briot's original Termperance Basins. Minutoli's collection of historic artworks aimed to 'promote national welfare by bringing industry and the arts together', a sentiment echoed in the V&A's founding principles. Minutoli's systematic approach strongly influenced the development of this Museum. REPRODUCED FROM Salted paper print Poland Museum no. 36074 (27 November 2018)
Credit line
Given by The Prince Consort
Historical context
In 1855 Prince Albert donated Models for Craftsmen, photographed by Ludwig Belitski, published by the Minutolische Institut, Liegnits, Silesia
Subjects depicted
Association
Summary
The Prussian baron Alexander von Minutoli (1806-87) often sent his model collection to schools of the applied arts. The objects, however, suffered from this treatment. Thus he commissioned photographic reproductions to circulate instead. The first trial with Daguerreotypes failed, because these were relatively fragile and also suffered from frequent moving. (Daguerrotype was the first commercially available form of photography, introduced in 1839. Each photograph was a one-off, appearing on a silvered copper plate.) In 1853 Minutoli engaged Ludwig Belitski to make a photographic reproduction on paper. Belitski was a photographer from Liegnitz in Silesia (now Legnica, Poland). He earned international fame from Minutoli’s large commission (seven folio-sized volumes with 663 plates) and won awards in Brussels and Amsterdam in 1855 and 1856. The Venetian glass here was photographed in bright sunlight.
Bibliographic reference
Julius Bryant, ed. Art and Design for All. The Victoria and Albert Museum London: V&A Publishing, 2011. ISBN: 9781851776665.
Collection
Accession number
36074

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Record createdJuly 1, 2009
Record URL
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