The V and A 17th Century Filigree Altar Vases

 

A Pair of Silver Filigree Altar Vases.

with some notes and images for comparison.

Victoria and Albert Museum.

The V and A suggest an Italian origin but do not commit themselves as to age.

I suggest probably South German 17th/18th century.

Height: 44.5cm Width: 45.7cm.

V & A  Altar Vase 1.

V & A Altar Vase 2.

https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O98001/vase/

Literature - Di Natale, Maria Concetta, 'Frasche e fiori d'argento per gli altari'. In: Arredare il Sacro. Artisti, opere e committenti in Sicilia dal Medioevo al Contemporaneo, ed. by Maria Concetta Di Natale and Maurizio Vitella. Milan: Skira, 2015. ISBN 9788857230023

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An Augsburg, South German Vase For Comparison.

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Johann Beckert III altar vase. 

Augsburg, around 1689.

Gilded silver, H. 49.5 cm. Munich, Residenzmus., inv.no. 172. 

This image from the very useful website -

https://www.rdklabor.de/wiki/Filigran_(Filigranarbeiten,_Filigrandraht)

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Currently with dealers PAB of Paris and Lisbon.

https://pab.pt/pages/contactos

https://pab.pt/projeto/floreiro

I am very grateful to PAB for allowing me to use their images and information.

13.5 x 10.5 cm (without flowers); 23.5 x 23 x 23 cm (with flowers)

I suspect that the base is a replacement - to my eye it does not sit very happily.

Perhaps the most remarkable features are the silver flowers which appear at first glance to be dried originals but on close inspection are silver cast from life. This is a technique employed by Jamnitzer - see the vase on the centrepiece of 1549 in the Rijksmuseum.

I wonder whether the three elements started life separately?

The vase and flowers are ascribed to the manufacture of Wenzel Jamnitzer (1507 - 85) - I remain to be convinced, although the arguments advanced in the PDF (link below) are very persuasive. I leave this to the reader.

For an in depth look see https://pab.pt/uploads/2021/02/pt6611pdf.pdf

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