Rosenborg Lion
- Object:
- Place of origin:
Birmingham, England (made)
- Date:
- Artist/Maker:
Elkington and Company (maker)
- Materials and Techniques:
Electroplated copper, silvered
- Museum number:
- Gallery location:
Silver, room 89, case EXP
- Image in copyright
These enchanting animal figures reproduce two of the three silver
lions--one seated, one standing and one crouching--made between 1665 and 1670 by the Copenhagen silversmith Ferdinand Kyblich to 'protect' the royal Danish thrones at Rosenborg Castle. The lions symbolize the Great Belt, the Little Belt and the Sound, the three territorial boundaries that then demarcated Scandinavian sovereignty.
Electrotype copies of metalwork, particularly goldsmith's work, formed an important part of the Museum's growing collection of reproductions, complementing the plaster casts and photographs of original works. From the 1840s Birmingham-based Elkington & Co. dominated the English trade in electrotyping--an electrical equivalent of casting--and many of the Museum's electrotypes, including these two lions, were produced by Elkington in the 1870s and 1880s. The firm was particularly successful with large-scale electrotypes, which are technically very difficult to make.
Electrotypes--also called Galvanoplastic copies, named for Luigi Galvini (Italian, 1737-1798), whose early experiments stimulated research on electricity--are closely related to electroplating. A mould (initially of wax, but later of metal) is taken from the object to be reproduced; copper is deposited on the mould in a plating vat; the mould is then removed, revealing a reproduction in copper of the original work. Ordinarily, the copper reproduction would be gilded or silver (as with the lions) to imitate the material of the original. The age tarnished lions were photographed before they were cleaned back to silver.
Physical description
Electrotype Copies of a Rosenborg Castle Lion, electroplated copper, silvered, 98 x 170 x 64cm.
Place of Origin
Birmingham, England (made)
Date
ca. 1885 (made)
Artist/maker
Elkington and Company (maker)
Materials and Techniques
Electroplated copper, silvered
Dimensions
Height: 98 cm, Width: 170 cm, Depth: 64 cm
Object history note
Image emailed to British Heritage Magazine, 12/11/99
Descriptive line
Electrotype Copies of a Rosenborg Castle Lion, electroplated copper, silvered, Elkington & Co., England (Birmingham), ca. 1885
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Baker, Malcolm and Richardson, Brenda, eds. A Grand Design : The Art of the Victoria and Albert Museum London: V&A Publications, 1997. 431 p., ill. ISBN 1851773088
Electrotype copies of metalwork, particularly goldsmiths work, formed an important part of the Museum's growing collection of reproductions, complementing the plaster casts and photographs of original works.From the 1840s the Elkington firm dominated the English trade in electrotyping - an electrical equivalent of casting - and many of the Museum's electrotypes, including the two life-size lions, were produced by Elkington in the 1870s and 1880s. The firm was particularly successful with large-scale electrotypes, which are technically very difficult to make. Electrotypes - also called Galvanoplastic copies, named for Luigi Galvini (Italian, 1737-1798), whose early experiments stimulated research on electricity - are closely related to electroplating. A mould (initially usually of wax, but later of metal) is taken from the object to be reproduced; copper is deposited on the mould in a plating vat; the mould is then removed, revealing a reproduction in copper of the original work. Ordinarily, the copper reproduction would be gilded or silver (as with the lions) to imitate the material of the original. (The age tarnished lions were photographed before they were cleaned back to silver.)
These enchanting animal figures reproduce two of the three silver lions - one seated, one standing and one crouching - made in 1665-70 by the Copenhagen silversmith Ferdinand Kyblich to ""protect"" the royal Danish thrones at Rosenborg Castle (fig.78)
The lions symbolize the Great Belt, the Little Belt and the Sound, the three territorial boundaries that then demarcated Scandinavian sovereignty.
ANTHONY R.E.NORTH
The Royal Danish throne room at Rosenborg Castle, Copenhagen, with its three seventeenth-century silver lions that symbolically protect the sovereignity"
Angus Patterson, "The Perfect Marriage of Art and Industry: Elkingtons and the South Kensington Museum's Electrotype Collection", The Journal of the Antique Metalware Society, Vol. 20, June 2012, pp. 56-77, ill. p. 61
Exhibition History
A Grand Design - The Art of the Victoria and Albert Museum (Victoria and Albert Museum 12/10/1999-16/01/2000)
Subjects depicted
Lions (animals)
Categories
Metalwork; Royalty; Sculpture
Collection code
MET
