Swabia circa 1500 - A Swabian figure of a holy knight, circa 1500 - image-1

Lot 1008 Dα

Swabia circa 1500 - A Swabian figure of a holy knight, circa 1500

Auction 1029 - overview Cologne
17.05.2014, 11:00 - The Hofstätter Collection
Estimate: 80.000 € - 100.000 €
Result: 97.600 € (incl. premium)

Swabia circa 1500

A Swabian figure of a holy knight, circa 1500

Lindenwood, carved in the round and partially freestanding, the back flattened and hollowed out. Substantial remains of presumably original polychromy. A large and finely carved figure of a saint dressed in a knight's armour and wearing the Order of the Golden Fleece on a necklace, designed for a frontal and slightly lowered viewpoint. The piece was auctioned by Hugo Helbing in 1930 entitled "Hl. Florian" (St. Florian), and the illustration in the auction catalogue shows a burning house beside his engaged leg and a bucket of water in his right hand. These (possibly unoriginal) attributes have since been removed, and the plinth has been ammended. The style of the figure is comparable to pieces made in the master's workshops of Swabia and Ulm in the late 15th century, such as the figure of Saint George kept in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London under the inv. no. A.26-193.
A vertical crack to the reverse of the head, back and plinth. The left part of the plinth beside the engaged leg is has been replaced (after 1930). Height 127.5 cm.

Provenance

Auctioned by Hugo Helbing, Frankfurt am Main, 9.-10.12.1930, lot 105, illus. pl. 7.

Literature

For the comparison, cf.: Norbert Jopek: German Sculpture 1430-1540. A Catalogue of the Collection in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London 2002, p. 76, no. 28, illus.