Throughout the ages artists and craftsmen have made virtuoso carvings as a display of their skill and ingenuity. Although ivory, wood and stone are relatively easy to carve, other materials such as gemstones are much more demanding. Most of these carvings were made for wealthy patrons and collectors, who delighted in the rarity of the material and quality of the carving. Permoser was famous for his monumental sculpture, but he also worked on a more intimate scale. This ivory exemplifies his sensitive carving, in particular the swooning Virgin falling away from the figure of the dead Christ. The concave top of the relief reflects the shape of the ivory tusk.
Physical description
Ivory relief, dramatically carved, with figures surrounding the body of Christ and cherubs in the sky.
Place of Origin
Germany (made)
Date
ca. 1700 (made)
Artist/maker
Permoser, Balthasar, born 1651 - died 1732 (maker)
Materials and Techniques
Carved ivory
Dimensions
Height: 24.1 cm, Width: 14.6 cm, Depth: 2.5 cm
Descriptive line
The Entombment, Ivory relief, Balthasar Permoser, Italy, ca.1690-1700
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.
This impressively monumental relief, like cat. 80, was among the Baroque ivories collected by Dr. W. L. Hildburgh for loan to the Museum from 1930 onward, and given in 1949. According to Museum records, The Entombment was purchased by Hildburgh from the Munich dealer Julius Böhler in 1930 on the recommendation of the Museum. Shortly after its purchase, it was published as being by Balthasar Permoser, best known for his monumental sandstone figures executed between 1712 and 1723 for the Dresden Zwinger, the richly decorated court building designed for Augustus the Strong (1670-1733), elector of Saxony. Like many German sculptors, he also produced small-scale sculpture, and this ivory is thought to have been produced early in his career, soon after the sculptor had gone to work in Florence in 1677. The attribution to Permoser was subsequently disregarded; it is only relatively recently that Permoser has once again been accepted as the carver of this piece.
Lit. Asche, 1978, pp. 36-7, 148
MARJORIE TRUSTED
Asche, S. Balthasar Permoser: Leben und Werk. Berlin, 1978. pp. 20, 36-7, 148. pl. 56.
Asche suggests the figure supporting Christ's head is an angel rather than Joseph of Arimathea or Nicodemus.
Michalski, E. In: Belvedere. II., 1932. pp. 123. ff. fig. 135.
Burlington Magazine. XCVI., 1954. p. 222. fig. 36.
Asche, S. Balthasas Permoser und die Barockskulpter des Dresdner Zwingers. Frankfurt am Main, 1966. p. 287 (P13). fig. 15. pl. 31.
dated to about 1685.
Theuerkauff, C. Zu Francis von Bossuit (1635 - 1692) "beeldsnyder in yvoor." Wallraf-Richartz-Jahrbuch. 37, 1975. p. 141. fig. 32.
compared with ivory relief of The Entombment attributed to Bossuit in the Lord Thomson Collection, Toronto.
Theuerkauff, C. Studien zu Elfenbeinplastik des Barock. Freiburg, 1964. p. 238. n. 91.
Trusted, Majorie. ed. The Making of Sculpture: the Materials and Techniques of European Sculpture. London: V&A Publications, 2007. p. 120. pl. 221.
Cf. Piacenti, K. A. Documented works in ivory by Balthasar Permoser and some documents related to Filippo Senger. Mitteilungen des Kunsthistorischen Institutes in Florenz. 10, 1963. pp. 273 ff.
Exhibition History
Precious: Objects and Changing Values (The Millennium Galleries, Sheffield 02/04/2001-24/06/2001)
A Grand Design - The Art of the Victoria and Albert Museum (Victoria and Albert Museum 12/10/1999-16/01/2000)
Materials
Ivory
Techniques
Carving
Subjects depicted
Figures; Landscape; Jesus Christ; Mary (Virgin Mary); Death; Cherubs
Categories
Sculpture; Christianity; Death
Collection code
SCP
