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Not currently on display at the V&A

Powder Flask

ca. 1850 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This is a turned and cylindrical ivory powder flask made in Germany (Nuremberg), dated 1543. It is engraved with hunting scenes, a boar and a bear hunt respectively.
The flask is prominently dated '1543' in a scrolled cartouche above the landscape scenes. The silver mounts are engraved with the arms of the Holzschuher family, as augmented by King Emmanuel of Portugal in 1503, in favour of Wolfgang Holzschuher of Nuremberg (d. 1547), after the King had conferred on him the knighthood of the Order of Christ in recognition of his services against the Muslims. The flask is however almost certainly a nineteenth-century confection, made to deceive. the form is odd and the fact that the date is displayed so prominently is itself suspicious. The hunting scenes are probably based on engraved sources.
The production of ivories in historicizing styles in the 19th century flourished in a number of centres, including Cologne, Milan, Toulouse and Cordoba. Although not always made to deceive, unscrupulous dealers often sold them as genuine objects to their clients.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Engraved, inked and turned ivory with the silver mounts
Brief description
Powder flask, ivory with silver mounts, engraved with hunting scenes, Germany (Nuremberg), ca. 1830 (spuriously dated) 1543
Physical description
Turned cylindrical powder flask in ivory, engraved and inked in with hunting scenes - a scene of a boar hunt and a bear hunt - in a landscape, with a church in the distance. A frieze of running hares, dogs, a goose and a seated stag runs round the upper rim. The flask is prominently dated '1543' in a scrolled cartouche above the landscape scenes.
The silver mounts are engraved with the arms of the Holzschuher family.
Dimensions
  • Whole height: 11.5in
  • Diameter at bottom diameter: 5.23cm
  • Ivory alone height: 7.3cm
Marks and inscriptions
  • '1543' (in a scrolled cartouche above the landscape)
  • arms of the Holzschuber family (on the silver mounts)
Object history
Bought from Messrs Goldschmidt, Frankfurt in 1872.
Subjects depicted
Summary
This is a turned and cylindrical ivory powder flask made in Germany (Nuremberg), dated 1543. It is engraved with hunting scenes, a boar and a bear hunt respectively.
The flask is prominently dated '1543' in a scrolled cartouche above the landscape scenes. The silver mounts are engraved with the arms of the Holzschuher family, as augmented by King Emmanuel of Portugal in 1503, in favour of Wolfgang Holzschuher of Nuremberg (d. 1547), after the King had conferred on him the knighthood of the Order of Christ in recognition of his services against the Muslims. The flask is however almost certainly a nineteenth-century confection, made to deceive. the form is odd and the fact that the date is displayed so prominently is itself suspicious. The hunting scenes are probably based on engraved sources.
The production of ivories in historicizing styles in the 19th century flourished in a number of centres, including Cologne, Milan, Toulouse and Cordoba. Although not always made to deceive, unscrupulous dealers often sold them as genuine objects to their clients.
Bibliographic references
  • Longhurst, Margaret H. Catalogue of Carvings in Ivory. London: Published under the Authority of the Board of Education, 1927-1929, Part II, p. 99
  • List of Objects in the Art Division, South Kensington, Acquired During the Year 1872, Arranged According to the Dates of Acquisition. London : Printed by George E. Eyre and William Spottiswoode for H.M.S.O., p. 52
  • Trusted, Marjorie, Baroque & Later Ivories, Victoria & Albert Museum, London, 2013 pp. 438, 439
  • Trusted, Marjorie, Baroque & Later Ivories, Victoria & Albert Museum, London, 2013, pp. 438, 439, cat. no. 474
Collection
Accession number
631-1872

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Record createdSeptember 12, 2008
Record URL
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