Narwhal-ivory covered cup
Sculptor: Joachim Henne (ca 1630-ca 1707), circle of
Probably Copenhagen, ca 1670
Silver mount: Johann II Leser (master ca 1676-1704)
Augsburg, ca 1681-1685
Narwhal ivory, elephant ivory, fire-gilt silver, modern leather case
Augsburg fir apple (Seling 830) and master maker’s mark IL (Seling 1740)
Collection label on the case ‘Sammlung Hoffenreich’
Height 18 cm, width 15 cm, depth 6 cm
This magnificent standing cup, which is intact with cover, is distinguished by richly ornate sculptural decoration: both the round foot and the wall as well as the cover are decorated with reliefs while the shaft and the finial are formed fully in the round. The simple jagged-edged mount of fire-gilt silver bears on the outer foot ring the Augsburg fir apple mark and the master maker’s mark of the Augsburg goldsmith Johann II Leser, who probably produced this magnificent piece shortly after taking his master craftsman’s examination, that is, between 1681 and 1685. By contrast, the sculptor who created the free-standing and relief decoration of the cup was in the circle of Joachim Henne, who is recorded as having worked in Hamburg and at the royal Danish court in Copenhagen between 1663 and 1707 although he had presumably been active in south Germany before those dates. This attribution is based on comparison with a stylistically similar ivory cup in the Royal Danish art collections at Rosenborg Castle, another work attributed to Joachim Henne. The support figures of the Copenhagen cup are particularly similar to those on the present magnificent vessel: here the Aphrodite is depicted seated on Paris’s lap in a contorted pose that recurs in the putti. On both cups the softly modelled, plump bodies reveal the conception of anatomy that in general is a distinguishing feature of Joachim Henne’s work.