A rare and magnificent Warat mortar - image-1
A rare and magnificent Warat mortar - image-2
A rare and magnificent Warat mortar - image-1A rare and magnificent Warat mortar - image-2

Lot 613 Dα

A rare and magnificent Warat mortar

Auction 1152 - overview Cologne
29.05.2020, 11:00 - Highly Important Mortars from the Schwarzach Collection II
Estimate: 7.000 € - 8.000 €
Result: 8.750 € (incl. premium)
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A rare and magnificent Warat mortar

Cast bronze with golden brown patina. Cylindrical form with moulded protruding base and flared rim. With an angular handle of octagonal section. Decorated with two grotesques flanked by two tiny putto heads as well as fine braided motifs and a fleur-de-lys frieze. A later soldered repair to the rim. H 15.5, D 17 cm. Weight c. 5 kg. Includes a corresponding iron pestle.
Tirol, attributed to Jakob Warat I, around 1600.

The name Warat (also spelt Worath, Warath, Waerat, Warater or Wörath) can be attributed to several persons in the Austrian region of Brixen, Taufers, Vahrn, Trens, Berghausen and Aigen and refers to one (or more?) families of sculptors and painters active from the late 16th to the 18th century.
Jakob Worath I (Warat, 1573-1605) lived in Taufers and is documented as a bell founder. The form and decor of this mortar is strongly reminiscent of the casting work of the Grassmayr family, who were also active in Brixen and Innsbruck and also cast bells and cannons. The lack of casts from nature, however, give grounds for the attribution to Warat. The inventory of the Ferdinandeum in Innsbruck also houses another mortar which is attributed to the foundry of Warat and shows comparable applications.