Orpheus and the animals
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Figural scene of Orpheus holding a lyre and leaning against a tree, surrounded by seven animals on an octagonal stand. The figures are made of gilt-bronze and freshwater pearls, and are enamelled and set with rubies and diamonds. The stand is gilt-bronze and set with five cameos: four with female heads and the front one with a phoenix. Attaching threads and nuts are made of silver.
Deer, a rabbit and an elephant are among the animals gathered to hear Orpheus play in this exquisite pearl and gold sculpture. Several similar works were made by Johann Heinrich Köhler for Augustus the Strong (1670-1733), who amassed an unrivalled collection of princely treasures in his castle in Dresden. Acquired by Ferdinand de Rothschild, it was once owned by the man responsible for establishing German opera.
In Greek myth, Orpheus could sing so sweetly that wild beasts followed him, trees bowed down their branches and the wildest of men were pacified. Here, seven small creatures with bodies formed of mis-shapen pearls, including a scaled down elephant and lion, gather to listen, calmed by the music. Behind the youth, a tree supports his body - both an allusion to the story, but also to avoid the more difficult practice of fashioning his pearl body in the round. His lyre, formed of rubies and diamonds, alludes to its fate after his death when it became a constellation of twinking stars. The small sun on his chest may refer to Orpheus's ill-fated voyage into the Underworld to rescue his wife Eurydice. The gods were so charmed by his music that they agreed to release her on the proviso that Orpheus must not look back before reaching the light of day. He had almost reached the sun when he was seized by a terrible doubt and looked back to see if Eurydice was following, at which point she was lost to him forever. Orpheus's mournful expression here, somewhat clumsily re-painted in restored enamel, reminds us of this tragedy.
The subject of Orpheus playing music to the animals would have appealed to the musical tastes of Heinrich Vitzthum von Eckstädt (1770–1837). In her notes on the collection made in 1906, Alice de Rothschild records the fact that this piece was once in his collection. He was Court Marshal to Frederick Augustus I of Saxony (1750-1827), as well as the director of the King's chapel and theatre, and a strong supporter of German opera. He had the idea of forming a state-supported opera company in Dresden (see J. Palgrave Simpson, "Carl Maria von Weber: the life of an artist" (London: Chapman, 1865), p. 394).
The Count's grandfather, Friedrich I. Vitzthum von Eckstädt (1675-1726), was Privy Cabinet Minister for Augustus the Strong. The Count's nephew was Karl Friedrich Count Vitzthum of Eckstadt (1819-1895), a diplomat of the Saxon court who spent time in Vienna, London and Paris. He may have been the source of Ferdinand's acquisition. The Rothschilds often made private deals with friends and associates to acquire their collections (see Michael Hall; 'The English Rothschilds as Collectors', in Georg Heuberger, "The Rothschilds - Essays on the History of a European Family" (Boydell & Brewer, 1995), p. 278).
Given the Vitzthum family's historic connection with the Saxon court, Ferdinand must have been suitably impressed by the piece's provenance. He particularly admired the collections of the Saxon court assembled in a spectacular suite of rooms known as the Green Vault (see Michael Hall, 'Bric-a-Brac', Apollo, (Jul-Aug 2007), p. 62). Indeed, when Ferdinand acquired the piece, it was attributed to the most famous of Augustus the Strong's goldsmiths, Johann Melchior Dinglinger (1664-1731). Whilst it does bear some resemblance to works such as Dinglinger's cup with children's bacchanal, signed and dated 1711 (Green Vault, Dresden), it is more similar to works by Köhler datable to around 1720.
Köhler's work first appears in the inventory of the Green Vault made in 1725. Born in 1669, he was the son of Dresden-based gold and precious stone workers. In 1701 he became a master in the Dresden goldsmiths' guild and in 1718 he became a court jeweller. The majority of his works are to be found in the Green Vault, where he also worked as a restorer. He died in Dresden in 1736. After Dinglinger, he was the most accomplished jeweller working for Augustus. He made large and small pieces, as well as clock cases and bases for ivory statues. He cut jewels and was involved in the production of the crown jewels of Saxony-Poland. Several pearl figurel groups are attributable to him.
A particularly similar piece is Köhler's "Diana under a green tree", (Green Vault, Inv. nr. VI 134, published with catalogue entry in Dirk Syndram, Ulrike Weinhold; "...und ein Lieb von Perl"; (Dresden; Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden; 2000), p. 30). Here, pearls appear on the end of the tree branches and large pearls are used to create a rocky landscape around the central figure, in a similar vein to the trees and animals with pearl bodies in the Orpheus piece. The group of animals surrounding a tree is also reminiscent of Köhler's clock with St Hubert also in the Green Vault (Inv. nr. VI 2, see Dirk Syndram, "The Green Vault", (Koehler and Amelang, 1994), p. 77).
Köhler's bases are usually more elaborate than the simple gold box set with cameos supporting Orpheus. This format is reminiscent of Dinglinger's bases for two African figures carrying pearls of c. 1724 (Inv. nr. VI 90 and 95), and also Abraham Pratsch's tall lidded goblet set with cameos of 1717. Such pieces enabled Augustus the Strong to present part of his collection of cut gems in an unusual and effective manner (see Dirk Syndram, "The Green Vault", (Koehler and Amelang, 1994), p. 79). The base of the Waddesdon piece may once have contained a mechanism for a musical box, although there are no signs of how this may have been operated.
Pearl art was particularly valued by Augustus the Strong who dedicated a whole room of his Green Vault to small figures and larger pieces made by several highly-skilled goldsmiths. These men used great skill and invention to render the highly prized mis-shapen pearls, found in the East and the Caribbean, into animals, dwarves, soldiers and theatrical figures with the addition of gold, silver and jewels. Extremely expensive, they were made only for the most elite of patrons, some of whom gave them as gifts to Augustus. Köhler must have made works for other customers in his workshop in Dresden, but other goldsmiths probably copied his ideas. We know that a dealer based in Frankfurt called Guillaume Verbecq supplied such figures, and he was probably in touch with several makers. The fact that the work bears similarities with Köhler's work but also relates to pieces by other markers indicates it is by an unknown goldsmith working close to Köhler.
When it entered his collection, Ferdinand chose to display it in his Tower Drawing Room at Waddesdon, along with other early 18th-century jewelled figures inherited from his father. Although of the tradition of German 'schatzkammer' treasures, it was not early enough to be included in his collection of medieval and Renaissance art displayed in the Smoking Room at Waddesdon from 1896 and bequeathed to the British Museum at his death in 1898.
Phillippa Plock, 2014
Other exhibition labels
- Deer, a rabbit and an elephant are among the animals gathered to hear Orpheus play in this elaborate pearl and gold sculpture. Several similar works were made by Johann Heinrich Köhler for Augustus the Strong (1670-1733), who amassed an unrivalled collection of princely treasures in his castle in Dresden. It was once owned by the man responsible for establishing German opera, Heinrich Vitzthum von Eckstädt and was later acquired by Ferdinand de Rothschild.
Dimensions (mm) / weight (mg)
149 x 165 x 135; weight 830g.
Inscriptions
Jäger rapariert... Dec. 11 1800
Aug. 1803
Inscription
[on inside of base plate, scratched]
Orfeus
Inscription
[on base, incised]
Provenance
- Owned by Count Heinrich Vitzthum von Eckstädt (b.1770, d.1837); acquired by Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild (b.1839, d.1898), possibly after 1895; inherited by his sister Alice de Rothschild (b.1847, d.1922); inherited by her great-nephew James de Rothschild (b.1878, d.1957); bequeathed to Waddesdon (National Trust) in 1957.
Collection
- Waddesdon (National Trust)
- Bequest of James de Rothschild, 1957
Bibliography
- Kirsten Piacenti, Renaissance and Baroque Jewellery, Apollo, 105, 1977, 422-427; p. 426, ill. 7.; as a musical box.