Unknown woman thumbnail 1
Not currently on display at the V&A

Unknown woman

Medal
1530-40 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This medallion is made by Friedrich Hagenauer. The purpose of this piece is uncertain. It may have been a model, although no medals are known to have been cast from it.
Hagenauer (1490-1500) was a German wood-carver and medallist. In accordance with his training as a wood-carver he prepared his models in boxwood or pearwood and then cast them in silver, bronze or lead. Hagenauer was active throughout the whole South German area and the Lower Rhine (main work output from the cities: Augsburg, Baden, Swabia, Bonn, Cologne, Munich). His models are very accurate and precise, and exact in the smallest detail. His patrons were fascinated by his models and treasured them as works of art, framed them and sometimes even coloured them. This is the reason also why so many have survived.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleUnknown woman (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Pearwood
Brief description
Medallion, pearwood, Unknown woman, by Friedrich Hagenauer, Germany (Augsburg), ca. 1530-40
Physical description
Medallion depicts profile bust to left, within a turned border.
Dimensions
  • Diameter: 59mm
  • Mount diameter: 72.5mm
Credit line
Salting Bequest
Object history
Provenance: Salting Bequest. George Salting (b. 1836; d. 1909), an Australian who settled in England, bequeathed a large collection of works decorative art to the Museum in 1909. Formerly in the Spitzer collection.
Production
Germany
Subjects depicted
Summary
This medallion is made by Friedrich Hagenauer. The purpose of this piece is uncertain. It may have been a model, although no medals are known to have been cast from it.
Hagenauer (1490-1500) was a German wood-carver and medallist. In accordance with his training as a wood-carver he prepared his models in boxwood or pearwood and then cast them in silver, bronze or lead. Hagenauer was active throughout the whole South German area and the Lower Rhine (main work output from the cities: Augsburg, Baden, Swabia, Bonn, Cologne, Munich). His models are very accurate and precise, and exact in the smallest detail. His patrons were fascinated by his models and treasured them as works of art, framed them and sometimes even coloured them. This is the reason also why so many have survived.
Bibliographic references
  • Trusted, Marjorie. German Renaissance Medals. Victoria & Albert Museum, 1990. 128p., ill. ISBN 1851770135.
  • 'Salting Bequest (A. 70 to A. 1029-1910) / Murray Bequest (A. 1030 to A. 1096-1910)'. In: List of Works of Art Acquired by the Victoria and Albert Museum (Department of Architecture and Sculpture). London: Printed under the Authority of his Majesty's Stationery Office, by Eyre and Spottiswoode, Limited, East Harding Street, EC, p. 82
  • Habich, catalog, I, 1, p. 98, no. 686
Collection
Accession number
A.511-1910

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Record createdFebruary 27, 2004
Record URL
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