THE PEWTER BY MR.

COLLECTION FORMED A. T. HAEBERLE

By WOLFGANG BORN

No. I.-INK-WELL OF GOTH IC FORM: GERMAN, CIRCA 1500 : HEIGHT 4} IN.

I N the spring of 1938 there was to be seen, in the City Art Museum of St. Louis (Missouri), a pew­ter collection which previously to that date was

virtually unknown. It belongs to the former Ameri­can Consul-General at Dresden, Mr. A. T. Haeberle, who was born in St. Louis and had recently returned to America. Mr. Haeberle brought together his col-:­lection during his stay in Germany. It contains more than two hundred objects, most of which are of Ger­man origin. They cover the epoch from the begin­ning of the Sixteenth Century till the beginning of the Nineteenth. Both simple vessels and utensils and elaborate decorative pieces are represented. The later ones show clearly the changes of style, from the Renaissance to the Baroque, and from the Rococo to the Classic. The plain objects, made for daily use, reveal a trend towards standardization-a more or less timeless character, untouched by the different forms of contemporary style, or only showing a faint trace of their influence.

In a vividly written book, * Mr. Haeberle tells us how he started his collection and gives valuable hints on the relations between pewter and the his­tory of civilization. However tempting it may be to indulge in this line of thought or to examine the difference between the pewter made for use and the * Uld l'ewter, l:Soston, 1931 .

purely luxurious pewter by the illustration of con­trasting examples, we have to restrict ourselves here to the description of a small choice of pieces of out­standing artistic interest.

The earliest object in the collection is an ink-well (Nos. i and ii), dating from the beginning of the Six­teenth Century, which, ' in spite of its date, must be

. considered as of Gothic type. Articles of this belated Gothic character were in use then in Northern Europe, whilst south of the Alps the Renaissance was already in vogue. * The ink-well is in the shape of a house or small chapel, like so many medieval re­liquaries. It is unornamented, but is of a very pleas­ing shape. Its artistic effect is entirely based on stereo­metrical values. With the Renaissance the character of pewter objects changed completely. Wherever an artistic effect had to be attained, the pewterer imi­tated the effects of silverwork. Renaissance silver was decorated with reliefs. Instead of the plain sur­faces, which defined clearly the structure of the body, there appeared plastic figures and ornaments, which break up the planes and claim an interest of their own, related to the body of the object only as a matter * A similar one is illustrated in Malcolm Bell, Old Pewter, London, Plate XL, but without a date or place.

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No. I l.-TH E I:\ K-\\,ELL SH OWN \\TfH LID R_-I.ISED : LENGTH AT BASE 4-!!- IN.

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THE PEWTER COLLECTION FORMED BY MR. A. T. HAEBERLE

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No. IlL-PEWTER SALVER : PROBABLY BY FRAN<;:orS BRIOT : CIRCA 1600 : DIAMETER 18* INCHES

of applied decoration. As long as the Renaissance prevailed, the plastic decoration continued to adapt itself to the construction of the object. The more the Baroque approached, the more freely the silversmith applied his decorative accessories, until in the Rococo the structure of the object became overwhelmed in a playful decoration of scroll­work, foliage and figures. In revulsion from this superfluity of extra­neous ornament classicism finally reverted to the charm of simplicity.

The first to introduce the decorative Renaissance themes into pew­ter was the Lothringian Fran<;:ois Briot (about 1550-after 1615). His most famous work is a salver with allegorical representation called the Temperantia salver, after the figure in its central circle. The decorative composition consists of concentric circles offigurative and ornamental reliefs. The figures are of an elegant and slender shape, revealing the influence of the school of Fontainebleau.

A salver in the Haeberle collection of a similar composition * (No. iii) shows in its centre medallion the fall of Adam and Eve. This subj ect is surrounded by figures ofMinerva and five of the seven liberal arts. In the outer rim are twelve Roman emperors on horseback. Ex­cept as ornament, there is no particular relation between the different subjects. They are taken partly from etchings of the French master Etienne Delaune (1518-I595), one of the best-known designers of goldsmith's work of his time. There can be no doubt about the French origin of the piece, although it recently has been attributed to the Nurn­berg master Caspar Enderlein. t Beside its resemblance to the hand i-* Other examples are in the L andesgewerbemuseum, Stuttgart. t Zinnsammlung V . Luzern, Galerie Fisch er, Katalog-der Auktion, vo!. I, 28.viii.1937.

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work ofBriot, it bears Frenchinscrip­tions under the figures of the arts .

. The mu&" (No. iv) bears on its ~llddle s.ectlOn three ~ngraved relig. IOUS subjects placed In medallions' the Virgin, St.John the Evangelis; and St. Peter. On the upper and lower border are chased ovolo pat­terns. It bears the name CaspaJ M~derecher an.d the date I 630. Thi~ obJect was ob tamed from the Histor­ical Museum at Munich. Its desigr is of a somewhat archaic character as is to be seen in the almost Gothi< treatment of the hair of the Virgin The tendrils and garlands whicl form the medallions show the change less character of peasant art rathe than the style of the late Renais sance, then prevailing in Germany

The Weavers' Guild cup (No. v bears the date 163 I on an engravel inscription. Below this is a medallio· enclosing three weaver's shuttle surrounded by scrolls and other OJ

naments and surmounted by a pel can in its piety. On the top of the li is the figure of a soldier bearing aha berd and a torch. Like the previol

:':o.IV.-MUG E NGRAVED W[TH SA<:RED SL"B,J' GERMAN: BY CAS PAR MADERECHER : DATED

THE CONNOISSEUR, WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED INTERNATIONAL STUDIO

No. V.-WEA VERS' GUILD CUP OF 163 1

piece, this cup is a pleasing blend of the Renaissance with the naIve taste of the German middle classes.

The Pewterers' Guild cup (No. vi) is dated 1642 and signed by the Silesian master Gise Grach. It was obtained from the Kunstgewerbemuseum (Museum of Industrial Arts), Dresden, which had purchased it in the middle of the Nineteenth Century. The shape of the cup is ex­ceptional: on a round foot and body is an hexagonal neck. The latter bears en­graved verses perpetuating

No. VII.-GUILD TANKARD BY T OBIAS SCHLEGEL : 1651

No. VIII.-FL\.GO:-l BY GEORG KLADE, REGENSBURG: 1676

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No. VI.-PEWTERERS' GUILD CUP: DATED 1642.

the memory of the masters of the guild. As in the Weavers' Guild cup, an armed figure is on the top of the lid. He bears a banner of embroidered silk. His lower half is hidden behind a huge shield. The arbitrary composition of the whole thing shows a complete in­dependence of the accepted prin­ciples of the Renaissance, which, however, r emains the style of the cup.

The Guild tankard (No. vii) is dated 1651 and bears the letters A.E.G.P. It was made by Tobias SchlegelofLiegnitz in Silesia. The museum in Breslau (Silesia) has a Guild tankard by the same

THE PEWTER COLLECTION FORMED BY MR. A. T. HAEBERLE

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No. IX.-GUILD CUP: DATED 1737 : 16'1 IN.

master.* The form of the tan­kard is stout and simple. The foot is not sharply separated from the body, but turns steeply towards it. The decor­ation consists of free growing engraved tendrils, covering the surface, and the hinge has a thumb-piece of boldly curved design-all traits of the incipient growth of the Baroque, which blends the independent parts of the ob­ject in a picturesque unity.

The Beer flagon (No. viii),

* Erwin Hintze, D ie deutschen ;:;i1l1Igies;:;er

und ihre Mm'ken, Leipzig, 1921-1931 ,

vol. IV, No. 185.

dated 1676, reveals its Baroque ori­gin in the costume and the hair­dressing of two portraits engraved on the body. They represent a couple by name Ferdinand Maria and Adel­heid. The ornamentation, however, is not at all Baroque, but purely geo­m etrical, revealing the popular taste, such as is found in peasant art. The thumb piece of the :\hinge, however, is undiluted Baroqtie. The tankard bears the pewter mark, a deer and

No. X.-WINE VESSEL: CIRCA 1700 : HEIGHT lO,lr IN.

two keys. Its maker was Georg Klade from Regensburg, Bavaria, and the piece was at one time in the Histori­cal I\.1useum, Munich.

The Guild cup, dated 1737 (No. ix) is of an octagonal shape, its lid ending in a tall finish. On its upper rim it bears the names ofseveralrnas­ters. The octagonal shape is not ar­bitrary, as was the hexagonal neck of the Pewterers' Guild cup, but is

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the continuous motif of the en­tire vessel. Its silhouette is of typical Baroque design, consist­ing of many different curves and angles. At this time the gold­smi th's art was already more Rococo than Baroque, while the pevlterer has followed/the evolu­tion more slowly. :"

The hexagonal Wine vessel (No. x) bears no date, but be­longs to a group of similar ob­j ects used in the second half of the Seventeenth and at the be­ginning of the Eighteenth Cen­turies. * It bears on each side an engraving of religious character, e.g. the Crucifixion, Christ and the Lamb, and The Burial of Christ. The drawings are bold and sure, but naIve, and are matched by the floral decora­tion: a typical geometrically

* Karl Berling, Altes Zinll, Berlin, 1919,

Figs. 92 and 93. (Concluded on jJage 158)

No. XL-FLAGON ENGRAVED WITH DATE 1772

THE CONNOISSEUR, WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED INTERNATIONAL STUDIO

THE ARMOUR AT CHARTRES (Continuedfrom page 95)

black with silver borders, of Ferdinand Grand Duke of the Tirol, suspended above his tomb. Armour in Konigsberg, Luneburg, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Helsingfors, and Wismar, among many other cities, is waiting for someone to describe it and trace and record its traditions.

Headpieces of interest have received more atten­tion. Laking has illustrated the fine bacinets at Sion and Cracow, and various helms in or once in Continental churches. The Continent' offers a fine field for research, but I very much doubt if there was ever any widespread custom to suspend in village churches the helmet, gauntlets and tabard over monuments to the squirearchy (or whatever was the counterpart of that class abroad), a custom which has given to our village churches in England that romantic touch so dear to the heart of every Englishman.

A PORTRAIT BY ARENT DE GELD ER (Continuedfrom page 96)

throughout in touches. The flesh has an even gold tone which is remarkable for never becoming un­pleasantly hot. The red note in the lips and cheek reaches its height in two scarlet ribbons on the vest; this area is intricately worked out in vague touches of greyed blue and crumbling white. The flat brown of the background throws into relief the golden light in which the whole figure is enveloped.'

The painting was formerly in the collection of H. Ken-Colville, Jr., and while in the possession of an Amsterdam dealer was sent to the exhibition of Dutch art in London in 1929.

THE HAEBERLE PEWTER COLLECTION (Continued fro m page 133)

conventionalized piece of peasant art. The religious character of the engraved subjects suggests a former use in the church.

The Flagon (No. xi) has on its lid an engraved crown and arms, the letters A.M.Z. and the date 1772. The pew.terer's mark is also oh the lid-two leaves, a nude figure, G .E.G. 1708. Its maker was probably Gottlob Ehrenfeld Graff of Grossenhain (+ 1773), Saxony.* Engraved on the plain surface )fthe tankard is the figure of a lady playing the lute, :l1ld a cupid, holding music. Above and below the STOUp are two bands of floral decoration. Both the 19ures and the flowers are of a somewhat naIve R.ococo design. Here the object m erely serves as a )ackground for the applied decoration-and is not o~"b.e considered as a plastic fo rm in itself. Hintze, lac. ci"t. , val. I,Na. 647.

AN EXPLOITED GENIUS: BASTIANINI (Continued from page 139)

Foresi seems to suggest that it was carved from an old piece of marble found lying in a corner of the studio and that it was named only after the vision of Bastianini had brought it ' out of the everywhere into here.' It was then called Lucrezia Donati in refer­ence to the noted mistress of Lorenzo de' Medici, il Magnifico. Even such a thought cannot affect our estimate of its merit to be placed high in the scale of humanity's ideals of beauty. It is great enough, beautiful enough, to have inspired those words of Lorenzo de' Medici's own poem to Lucrezia:

'La bella immagin,' che lodar si sente Come dice il pensier, che lei sol mira, Sen fa piu bella, e piu pietosa assai.'

TWO PORTRAIT DRAWINGS BY DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI (Continuedfrom page 141)

Both the Doctor and his son were at Trowan and Kelmscott for a while. Bell Scott, in his Autobio­graphical Notes, has a rather malicious description of the former, scribbling verse and starting different variants of a sonnet in which not only the rhymes but the meaning was changed with each variation. But it must be remembered that Bell Scott was a poet too, like the doctor a minor one, and, in fact, jealous. Watts-Dunton told Hake 'It was always a great thing with Scott in his jealousy of you to make out that whatsoever was good of yours was the work of Rossetti.' However this may be, Rossetti had his models conveniently to hand. Less concerned for the moment with poetic ideas than to show how well he could still draw he set down their features with a remarkably sure and unerring power. There is no trace of that amateurishness and weakness of draughtsmanship of which Rossetti has been often, somewhat unfairly, accused ; nor is there any trace of the feverish perplexity and low state of health he was suffering when he did them.

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For some years afterwards Rossetti continued to be in touch with Dr. Hake. In 1876 writing as one poet to another, he begged his acceptance of a waist­coat pocket book. He explained that the waistcoat pocket is 'the only one into which the hand slips willingly whatever the body's position.' H e always carried such a book himself, otherwise the 'best thoughts of the lazy minstrel may doze past his brain unjotted.'

When Dante Gabriel Rossetti was dying at Birch­ington-on-Sea in 1882, his brother, William Michael, affectionately remembered George Hake's care of him. The drawings remain as a landmark of a drama­tic and fateful period of the artist's strange life.

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