A document from the 1500s tells of a search ordered by Emperor Charles IV (crowned at Rome 1355-died 1378) for semiprecious stones in the mountains northwest of Prague. A distinctive type of deep-red jasper, with large inclusions of amethyst and crystal, was found. Thousands of sheets of jasper still decorate the walls of Saint Vitus Cathedral and the chapels at Karlstejn castle built under the emperor's direction. Surviving from the same period are fewer than twenty jasper vessels made for the imperial court, among them this cup and ewer. The remains of the medieval mines are now a protected site within the Czech Republic.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Ewer
Date:ca. 1350–80 (ewer); ca. 1400 (mounts)
Culture:Bohemian
Medium:Jasper body, silver-gilt mounts
Dimensions:Overall: 13 1/4 x 6 3/4 x 5 9/16 in. (33.7 x 17.1 x 14.1 cm) Foot : 2 3/4 x 5 1/2 in. (7 x 14 cm) handle thickness: 13/16 x 7/8 in. (2 x 2.2 cm)
Classification:Lapidary Work-Amber
Credit Line:Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917
Object Number:17.190.610
From the Church at Reinkenhagen, Germany (sold 1908 through Benno von Schlichtekroll); [ Max Wollmann, Berlin (in 1908)]; Art market, Germany; J. Pierpont Morgan (American), London and New York (from at least 1913–until 1917)
New York. The Cloisters Museum & Gardens. "The Secular Spirit: Life and Art at the End of the Middle Ages," March 28–June 15, 1975.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Prague, The Crown of Bohemia 1347-1437," September 19, 2005–January 3, 2006.
Prague Castle. "Charles IV, Emperor through the Grace of God: Culture and Art in the Time of the Last Luxembourgs, 1347–1437," February 16–May 21, 2006.
Prague, Czech Republic. Picture Gallery, Prague Castle. "Karel IV., císař boží milosti: kultura a umění za vlády posledních lucemburků 1347-1437," February 16, 2006–May 21, 2006.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Art of the Royal Court: Treasures in Pietre Dure from the Palaces of Europe," July 1–September 21, 2008.
Walters Art Museum. "A Feast for the Senses: Art and Experience in Medieval Europe," October 15, 2016–January 8, 2017.
John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art. "A Feast for the Senses: Art and Experience in Medieval Europe," February 4, 2017–April 30, 2017.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Making The Met, 1870–2020," August 29, 2020–January 3, 2021.
Otte, Heinrich. Handbuch der kirchlichen Kunst-Archäologie des Deutschen Mittelalters, edited by Ernst Wernicke. Vol. 1. 5th ed. Leipzig: T. O. Weigel, 1883. p. 252.
Breck, Joseph, and Meyric R. Rogers. The Pierpont Morgan Wing: A Handbook. 1st ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1925. pp. 91, 128, fig. 73.
Breck, Joseph, and Meyric R. Rogers. The Pierpont Morgan Wing: A Handbook. 2nd ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1929. pp. 91, 128, fig. 73.
Kohlhaussen, Heinrich. "Gotisches Kunstgewerbe." In Geschichte des Kunstgewerbes aller Zeiten und Völker, edited by Helmuth Theodor Bossert. Vol. 5. Berlin: E. Wasmuth, 1932. pp. 399–400.
Schiedlausky, Günther. Essen und Trinken: Tafelsitten bis zum Ausgang des Mittelalters. Munich: Prestel-Verlag, 1956. fig. 15.
Wentzel, Hans. Das Byzantinische Erbe der Ottonischen Kaiser Hypothesen über den Brauschatz der Theophano 43 (1972). pp. 67–84, fig. 82.
Husband, Timothy B., and Jane Hayward, ed. The Secular Spirit: Life and Art at the End of the Middle Ages. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1975. no. 46, pp. 47, 52, fig. 3.
Fritz, Johann Michael. Goldschmiedekunst der Gotik in Mitteleuropa. Munich: C. H. Beck, 1982. p. 236, fig. 362.
Boehm, Barbara Drake, and Jiri Fajt, ed. Prague: The Crown of Bohemia, 1347–1437. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2005. no. 36a, pp. 166–70.
Fajt, Jiri, and Barbara Drake Boehm, ed. Karel IV., Císař Boží Milosti: Kultura a Umění za Vlády Posledních Lucemburků 1347–1437 (Charles IV, Emperor by the Grace of God: Culture and Art in the Reign of the Last of the Luxembourgs 1347–1437). Prague: Prague Castle Administration, 2006. no. 4.7, pp. 38–39.
Fajt, Jiri, and Barbara Drake Boehm, ed. Karl IV., Kaiser von Gottes Gnaden: Kunst und Repräsentation des Hauses Luxemburg 1310-1437. Munich: Deutscher Kunstverlag, 2006. no. 93a, pp. 256–58, (acc. no. misidentified as 17.190.160).
Giusti, Anna Maria, ed. Art of the Royal Court: Treasures in Pietre Dure from the Palaces of Europe. New York, New Haven and London: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2008. no. 6, p. 110.
Bagnoli, Martina, ed. A Feast for the Senses: Art and Experience in Medieval Europe. Baltimore: Walters Art Museum, 2016. no. 82, p. 217.
Lissok, Michael. "Ein altes Gefäß für einen neuen Kirchturm. Die erstaunliche Geschichte derAchatkanne von Reinkenhagen." In Kirchliches Leben zwischen Trebel und Strelasund: Beiträge zur Geschichte des Kirchspiels und der Synode Grimmen. Kiel: Ludwig, 2019. pp. 83–108, fig. 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 20.
Bayer, Andrea, ed. Making the Met, 1870-2020. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2020. p. 248.
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