An important Hermannstadt silver partially gilt footed bowl. Marks of Sebastianus Hann, late 17th C.
H 34; diameter 34 cm, weight 2200 g.
Sebastianus Hann, born in Letschau, was one of the most outstanding baroque goldsmiths in Hungary. His works are characterised by their rich ornamentation and masterful depictions of biblical and historical motifs with finely embossed and chased figures. He carried out many commissions for the princely court of Siebenbürgen, and later that of Wallachia. The epitaph of the Count of Saxony Valentin Franck of Franckenstein - an enthusiastic patron of this artist - is among his greatest works and is now kept in the collection of the Brukenthalmuseum in Hermannstadt. Works of comparable quality by this goldsmith are for the most part already kept in public collections and churches and are thus very rarely available for purchase on the art market.
Provenance
Prof. Dr. Ernst-Ludwig Richter
Literature
Cf. a bowl with a chased depiction of the Queen of Sheba kept in the Kunstgewerbe-Museums Budapest, illus. in Köszeghy 1936, pl. XII, a tankard in the Hungarian National Museum, illus. in Hernmarck, Die Kunst der Europäischen Gold- und Silberschmiede, Munich 1978, and a screw-top bottle with allegorical decor in cat. Die Esterházy Schatzkammer, Budapest 2006, no. 86. For this master cf. also: Heller, Ungarische und Siebenbürgische Goldschmiedearbeiten, Munich 2000, p. 58, 222.