DOI issue:
Varia
DOI article:Nowacki, Dariusz: A gothic pendant in the Wawel collections
DOI Page / Citation link: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.19893#0184
3. Pendant. Formerly in Basner's collection at Sopot
(according to Wichmann)
Crucifixion, Immaculata, St. Michael fighting with
Satan, and the like3. For lack of a larger amount of
reliable source information they are traditionally re-
garded as South German products, which - in view
of the widespread phenomenon of circulation of pat-
terns and moulds - reąuires verification. While in
the scheme of the present scenę we might discern
some dependence on the representations connected
with the cult of the relics of the Magi in Cologne
Cathedral4, it is impossible to point to any specific
centrę of goldsmithing, despite a happy coincidence.
This is the maker's mark - extremely rare on me-
diaeval jewellery - not ąuite legibly stamped at the
bottom of the reverse - in the form of a Gothic
minuscule letter r within a lying rectangle or shield
(fig. 2).
Fortunately, there survive ąuite a few other versions
of the present pendant, at first glance appearing as if
they came from the same mould. However, this impres-
sion is contradicted not only by comparison of dimensions
but also by smali differences in details.
The pendant held until 1929 in Basner's collection
at Sopot0 (fig. 3) varies from the Wawel object in the
slight doming of the base for the figures rendered
differently; these differences concern particularly the
Mother of God, the king on the right who is shown in
profile, and the hair of the kneeling monarch. The ring,
added later, has been carelessly soldered on to the
jewel. The pendant in the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum
in Munich (fig. 4)6, with smali rings soldered on to the
circle at the top and bottom and with another, larger
ring linking with the upper one, has been cast more
carefully. It reveals differences in the crown - of the
corona clausa type - on the head of the king to the
3 Cf. A. B. Chadour, R. Joppien, Schmuck. 1: Hals-,
Ohr-, Arm- und Gewandschmuck [Kunstgewerbemuseum der
Stadt Koln], Koln 1985, pp. 179-180, 190-193, nos. 70-71, 81-85.
4 That the possibilities of composing a five-figure scenę
were limited is evidenced by the historical materiał compiled
in: Die Heiligen Drei Kónige - Darstellung und Verehrung.
Katalog zur Ausstellung des Wallraf-Richartz-Museum in der
Josef-Haubrich-Kunsthalle Koln, Koln 1982.
4. Pendant. Munich, Bayerisches Nationalmuseum
(phot. Museum)
5. Pendant. London, Victoria & Albert Museum
(phot. Museum)
5 H. Wichmann, Kunst und Kunsthandwerk im Haus
Basner in Zoppot, Danzig 1925, pl. 107 c; Sammlung Basner
Danzig-Zoppot. Gemdlde, Kunstgewerbe, Móbel, Rudolph Lepke's
Kunst-Auctions-Haus, Katalog 2018, 19 XII 1929, Berlin 1929,
p. 36, no. 149/3 - as a pendant to a rosary, central Italy, c.
1450.
6 Inv. no. MA 3052; diam. 3.9 cm.
180
(according to Wichmann)
Crucifixion, Immaculata, St. Michael fighting with
Satan, and the like3. For lack of a larger amount of
reliable source information they are traditionally re-
garded as South German products, which - in view
of the widespread phenomenon of circulation of pat-
terns and moulds - reąuires verification. While in
the scheme of the present scenę we might discern
some dependence on the representations connected
with the cult of the relics of the Magi in Cologne
Cathedral4, it is impossible to point to any specific
centrę of goldsmithing, despite a happy coincidence.
This is the maker's mark - extremely rare on me-
diaeval jewellery - not ąuite legibly stamped at the
bottom of the reverse - in the form of a Gothic
minuscule letter r within a lying rectangle or shield
(fig. 2).
Fortunately, there survive ąuite a few other versions
of the present pendant, at first glance appearing as if
they came from the same mould. However, this impres-
sion is contradicted not only by comparison of dimensions
but also by smali differences in details.
The pendant held until 1929 in Basner's collection
at Sopot0 (fig. 3) varies from the Wawel object in the
slight doming of the base for the figures rendered
differently; these differences concern particularly the
Mother of God, the king on the right who is shown in
profile, and the hair of the kneeling monarch. The ring,
added later, has been carelessly soldered on to the
jewel. The pendant in the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum
in Munich (fig. 4)6, with smali rings soldered on to the
circle at the top and bottom and with another, larger
ring linking with the upper one, has been cast more
carefully. It reveals differences in the crown - of the
corona clausa type - on the head of the king to the
3 Cf. A. B. Chadour, R. Joppien, Schmuck. 1: Hals-,
Ohr-, Arm- und Gewandschmuck [Kunstgewerbemuseum der
Stadt Koln], Koln 1985, pp. 179-180, 190-193, nos. 70-71, 81-85.
4 That the possibilities of composing a five-figure scenę
were limited is evidenced by the historical materiał compiled
in: Die Heiligen Drei Kónige - Darstellung und Verehrung.
Katalog zur Ausstellung des Wallraf-Richartz-Museum in der
Josef-Haubrich-Kunsthalle Koln, Koln 1982.
4. Pendant. Munich, Bayerisches Nationalmuseum
(phot. Museum)
5. Pendant. London, Victoria & Albert Museum
(phot. Museum)
5 H. Wichmann, Kunst und Kunsthandwerk im Haus
Basner in Zoppot, Danzig 1925, pl. 107 c; Sammlung Basner
Danzig-Zoppot. Gemdlde, Kunstgewerbe, Móbel, Rudolph Lepke's
Kunst-Auctions-Haus, Katalog 2018, 19 XII 1929, Berlin 1929,
p. 36, no. 149/3 - as a pendant to a rosary, central Italy, c.
1450.
6 Inv. no. MA 3052; diam. 3.9 cm.
180