Model for a Chalice
about 1750
Object PlaceAugsburg, Germany
Medium/TechniqueWood
DimensionsH. 16.51 cm (6 1/2 in.); W. 15.2 cm (6 in.)
Credit LineOtis Norcross Fund
Accession number1971.397
On View
On viewClassificationsModels
Collections
Wooden models for silver objects rarely survive. This one includes the full range of ornament characteristic of the rococo style: scrolls, shells, and leaves that curl over the irregular edges of the base and top. The overall design resembles a number of silver chalices an other ecclesiastical vessels made in Augsburg, but so far no exact match has been found.
ProvenanceDavid David-Weill (b. 1871 - d. 1952), Paris and Neuilly-sur-Seine, France [see note 1]; between 1940 and 1943, confiscated from David David-Weill by the Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg (ERR no. DW 2288); August 20, 1943, inventoried at the Jeu de Paume, Paris [see note 2]; November 18 or November 23, 1943, shipped to Schloss Seisenegg, Austria [see note 3]; 1944, probably removed to Alt Aussee. After World War II, recovered by Allied forces and returned to David David-Weill; passed by descent within the family; June 16, 1971, David-Weill sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, lot 108. 1971, sold by Nicolas Landau (dealer), Paris, to the MFA. (Accession Date: November 10, 1971)
NOTES:
[1] David David-Weill was a Jewish banker and art collector. Before World War II, he sent a portion of his art collection to the United States. Other portions he stored at different locations in France, keeping parts of the collection at his home in Neuilly. See Hector Feliciano, The Lost Museum: The Nazi Conspiracy to Steal the World's Greatest Works of Art (New York, 1997), pp. 86-94.
[2] The ERR was the National Socialist agency responsible for confiscating art and cultural goods. Between 1940 and 1944, the ERR seized those portions of David-Weill's art collection that remained in France. This model for a chalice is ERR no. DW 2288, inventoried at the Jeu de Paume on August 10, 1943 (described as the model of a ciborium). National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, MD, Microfilm Publication M1943, ERR Card File and Related Photographs, No. DW 2288.
[3] The object was packed for shipment to Scheisenegg, a Nazi depository for works of art, on October 22, 1943, and was shipped in November of that year. In 1944, the depository was evacuated and the works of art removed to the salt mines at Alt Aussee. See National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, MD, Microfilm Publication M1946, Munich Central Colleting Point Administrative Records, ERR Inventories and Shipment Lists.
[4] On the return of the David-Weill collection, see Feliciano 1997 (as above, n. 1), pp. 180-181. In 1971, after the death of David-Weill's widow, over 500 objects from his collection were sold.
NOTES:
[1] David David-Weill was a Jewish banker and art collector. Before World War II, he sent a portion of his art collection to the United States. Other portions he stored at different locations in France, keeping parts of the collection at his home in Neuilly. See Hector Feliciano, The Lost Museum: The Nazi Conspiracy to Steal the World's Greatest Works of Art (New York, 1997), pp. 86-94.
[2] The ERR was the National Socialist agency responsible for confiscating art and cultural goods. Between 1940 and 1944, the ERR seized those portions of David-Weill's art collection that remained in France. This model for a chalice is ERR no. DW 2288, inventoried at the Jeu de Paume on August 10, 1943 (described as the model of a ciborium). National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, MD, Microfilm Publication M1943, ERR Card File and Related Photographs, No. DW 2288.
[3] The object was packed for shipment to Scheisenegg, a Nazi depository for works of art, on October 22, 1943, and was shipped in November of that year. In 1944, the depository was evacuated and the works of art removed to the salt mines at Alt Aussee. See National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, MD, Microfilm Publication M1946, Munich Central Colleting Point Administrative Records, ERR Inventories and Shipment Lists.
[4] On the return of the David-Weill collection, see Feliciano 1997 (as above, n. 1), pp. 180-181. In 1971, after the death of David-Weill's widow, over 500 objects from his collection were sold.
late 17th or early 18th century
about 1780
About 1780–90
1836
about 1740
about 1850
about 1730
1881