Engraving, blackwork (niello). Modern impression taken from original copper printing plate ca. 1590-1623 engraved with ornamental design.

Design featuring ornament for two ring shoulders, a box lid, stone setting above and a ring setting below.

This print and printing plate were acquired from the Rosenheim collection sale in 1923 and at the time were attributed by the museum to Hurtu. This attribution was undoubtedly suggested by the lot description in the Rosenheim sale catalogue (7th-8th May 1923) in which they are described as being in the 'style of Hurtu'. However, there seems little to substantiate this; the composition departs quite radically from the rest of Hurtu's oeuvre, whose designs are typically more elaborate and feature conventionally engraved details alongside central blackwork engraved motifs. This composition more strongly ressembles the blackwork prints of Adriaen Collaert.

This engraving is known as ‘blackwork’ and comes from the German word Scharzornament. It is thought to be connected to the fashion for making champlevé enamelled jewellery and involved a similar technique, using a tool to gouge out the metal. Just as enamelling was used to ornament jewellery, this metal plate features ornament for two ring shoulders, a box lid, stone setting above and a ring setting below.
Printmaking often developed in the workshops of metalworkers. Line engraving developed in the workshops of silversmiths or goldsmiths, while etching developed in armourers’ workshops.

E.1343A-1923