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Carved ivory cup in the form of a shell, by Nikolaus Pfaff (attrib)

Image attached to M.27-1933

An image of Sculpture / Cup or pouring vessel. Possibly made in Prague, by Nikolaus Pfaff (c.1556- before 1612). Previously considered to be by a member of the van Vianen family. In the form of an wide-mouthed shell with one side higher than the other, and its narrow lower end resting on the back of a rabbit crouching on a flat almost circular base. Over the top of the higher side is a narrow grotesque owl mask with curling ear tufts, and long flaps extending over the sides, which creates a mouth-like pouring lip. Below it is a long leaf which extends over shell-like lobes until it meets the back of the rabbit. Below the rim on the opposite side there is a grotesque male mask with a beard in the form of serrated leaf, with on each side two more serrated acanthus leaves overlapping each other. Carved and polished ivory, height, whole, 12.2 cm, width, whole, 9.0 cm, width, base, 4.3 cm, circa 1600-1610. Mannerism.

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Sculpture / Cup or pouring vessel. Possibly made in Prague, by Nikolaus Pfaff (c.1556- before 1612). Previously considered to be by a member of the van Vianen family. In the form of an wide-mouthed shell with one side higher than the other, and its narrow lower end resting on the back of a rabbit crouching on a flat almost circular base. Over the top of the higher side is a narrow grotesque owl mask with curling ear tufts, and long flaps extending over the sides, which creates a mouth-like pouring lip. Below it is a long leaf which extends over shell-like lobes until it meets the back of the rabbit. Below the rim on the opposite side there is a grotesque male mask with a beard in the form of serrated leaf, with on each side two more serrated acanthus leaves overlapping each other. Carved and polished ivory, height, whole, 12.2 cm, width, whole, 9.0 cm, width, base, 4.3 cm, circa 1600-1610. Mannerism.

Image data

  • Accession Number: M.27-1933
  • Photograph copyright © The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.
  • Aperture: f/45.0
  • Focal length: 120
  • Camera: Hasselblad H3DII-31
  • Photographer name: Andrew Norman
  • Image height: 825 pixels
  • Image width: 618 pixels
  • Processed with: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.4 (Windows)
  • Filesize: 329.08kB
  • Exposure time: 1/125
  • ISO Speed: 200
  • Fnumber: 45/1
  • Captured: 2013:01:23 10:39:52

Key words

17th Century acanthus carved cup Czech elaborate Fitz_AA grotesque ivory Mannerism Mannerist mask Nikolaus Pfaff rabbits sculpture sea shell shells vessel

Colours in this image

rgb(140,129,109), rgb(234,211,162), rgb(248,236,197), rgb(206,176,126), rgb(58,61,59), rgb(50,46,42), rgb(74,75,73), rgb(168,165,157), rgb(121,76,33), rgb(91,92,90), rgb(182,165,125)

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The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Carved ivory cup in the form of a shell, by Nikolaus Pfaff (attrib)" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/image/media-2032471679 Accessed: 2024-12-23 02:03:45

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{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/image/media-2032471679 |title=Carved ivory cup in the form of a shell, by Nikolaus Pfaff (attrib) |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-12-23 02:03:45|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

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        <img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/aa/aa37/M_27_1933_1_201301_adn21_dc2.jpg"
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        <figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Carved ivory cup in the form of a shell, by Nikolaus Pfaff (attrib)</figcaption>
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