In the 1925 photograph, you can see the nautilus cups from the Dresden collection of princely jewels “Green Vaults”. The central goblet was created by Andreas Kettle, a German jeweler from Torgau, around 1600.
Ostrich eggs in jewelry art
Ostrich eggs have long been a source of admiration and surprise for Europeans due to their size, translucency and exoticism. They became collectibles, and since about the sixteenth century, richly decorated, enclosed in gold or silver, ostrich eggs served as interior decoration as precious cups with nautilus.
In eighteenth-century Paris, there was a fashion for painted ostrich eggs, often with chinoiserie or pastoral scenes. They were often mounted in gilded bronze. Rare surviving specimens are usually signed or attributed to the Lebel family of painters.Ostrich eggs with such a painting are very rare, one similar copy signed by Lebel is kept at the Petit Trianon in Versailles. Chinoiserie painting was very popular during the heyday of the Rococo style. Jean-Baptiste Pilman (1728-1808) French painter, draftsman, ornaments maker and Rococo interior decorator, published a book of Chinese-style ornaments. The painting on eggs is very similar to the plots shown in Pilman’s book, and therefore may belong to the artists Pilman or Lebel.
And this goblet with a lid was created by Andreas Kettle in 1622 from an ostrich egg commissioned by Hans Adam on the occasion of his 40th birthday and the tenth anniversary of his marriage to Eva von Strauss. The frame of the egg is made of gilded silver. The lid of the goblet is crowned with a coat of arms and an ostrich. The leg of the goblet is made in the form of three ostriches supporting an egg.
Jeweler Joachim Mathias Wendt
Jeweler Joachim Mathias Wendt (1830-1917) was born in Holstein in 1830 to the family of a blacksmith. He was a watchmaker’s apprentice and studied the craft of a silversmith, and in 1854 he moved to Adelaide (Australia), where he became watchmaker and jeweler J.M. Wendt. His business flourished and his craftsmanship was praised at the 1865 New Zealand Exhibition, where his silverware and jewelry won first prize. For the visit of the Duke of Edinburgh to Adelaide in 1867, Wendt’s firm produced four gift boxes. For this work, he received the title of His Royal Highness’s Jeweler in the colony of South Australia. JM Wendt is considered one of the finest Australian jewelers in the 19th century.
A silver-framed emu egg inkwell surrounded by ferns and aborigines on a wooden stand, J.M. Wendt, Adelaide, Australia, circa 1870
Maki-e – Japanese technique
Maki-e is a Japanese technique for creating an image using gold, silver or colored powder on a lacquered surface, which was developed in the 8th – 11th centuries, and its heyday fell on the Edo period of the Meiji era (1603-1868). This products were originally created as household items for nobles or utensils in Buddhist and Shinto temples. The rise in popularity of maki-e has led to the emergence of a large number of masters of this technique, especially in the city of Edo.
To create different colors and textures, maki-e masters used powders made from different metals: gold, silver, copper, brass, lead, aluminum, platinum and tin, as well as their alloys. Bamboo tubes and soft brushes of various sizes were used to lay powder and draw fine lines. In practice, the maki-e jewelry technique required the highest skill and many years of study to develop the necessary skills.
An ostrich egg painted using the takamaki-e and hiramaki-e techniques. The lacquer painting depicts a warrior with a carved ivory face, dressed in ornate armor, holding a bow and standing under a pine tree in front of a pair of cranes. Meiji period (late 19th century).
The peak of the flourishing of maki-e technology came in the second half of the 19th century on the wave of the world community’s interest in this mysterious and closed country, when Japanese goods entered the world market and became available to buyers from Europe and America. An ostrich egg painted using the technique of Japanese lacquer painting has become a popular exotic gift in the Old and New Worlds. And I must say that many of these miniatures were real masterpieces.
Engraved ostrich egg
Engraved ostrich egg on a gilded bronze base. Persia, XIX century. Engraved medallions depict seated padishahs surrounded by servants and ornaments of flowers and birds.Renaissance casket with gilded silver setting, enamel and precious stones, probably Austria, late 19th century. Clasp in the shape of a lion mask, set with a diamond. Interestingly, this beautiful box bears a fake Faberge seal.A spotted ostrich egg, painted with figures against the backdrop of a lush landscape and a river. Lacquer painting in gold and silver using the maki-e technique, with a small ivory inlay, late 19th century.Two varnished ostrich eggs, painted with figures, surrounded by flowers and herbs. The first depicts a woman with a doll and a boy with a turtle; the second shows a samurai playing the pipe in front of a young woman with a lantern. Lacquer painting in gold and silver using maki-e technique. Meiji period (late 19th century).Pair of ostrich eggs, painted and silver in the maki-e technique, each of them depicts a man and a woman in a blossoming cherry orchard with cranes and birds in flight. The stands are made of metal in the shape of dragons. Meiji period (late 19th century).
Bowl with a lid made of an ostrich egg
Bowl with a lid made of an ostrich egg on a carved wooden stand in the form of three figures holding hands. The egg is painted with the image of partridges surrounded by plants and flowers using the hiramaki-e technique. Meiji period (late 19th century).Egg painted with a pheasant surrounded by wisteria and flowers using the hiramki-e technique. Posted by Hogyoku. A brown egg depicting a man surrounded by rocks and plants is made using the hiramaki-e and takamaki-e techniques. Meiji period (late 19th century).Ostrich egg, painted with the image of a frog wedding procession: four frogs carry the bride in a sedan chair made of lotus leaf, followed by porters with a fan, box and lantern made of lotus leaves and fruits, late 19th century.Beautiful rare pair of ostrich eggs from the time of Louis XV on gilded bronze stands, painted in chinoiserie style. France, circa 1760Bowl of an ostrich egg in a silver setting, decorated with gilding, enamel and precious stones, Germany, circa 1890A bowl with a lid made of an ostrich egg in a gilded bronze setting, decorated with lapis lazuli, late 19th – early 20th century.A bowl with a lid of an ostrich egg in a gilded silver setting, decorated with precious stones, JD Schleissner & Sohn, Hanau, Germany, late 19th – early 20th century.Bowl with a lid of an ostrich egg in a silver setting, decorated with amethysts, probably Australia, late 19th – early 20th century.
A box made of an ostrich egg
A box made of an ostrich egg in a gilded bronze setting in the shape of a rooster on a marble stand, late 19th century.Box made of an ostrich egg in a silvered setting, decorated with malachite. Anthony Redmile, London, circa 1970A jug of an ostrich egg in a gilded silver setting in the 17th century style, Simon Rosenau, Germany, 19th century.Jug of an ostrich egg in a gilded silver setting, second half of the 19th century.A lacquered ostrich egg painted with insects and flowers using the maki-e technique, late 19th century.Ostrich eggs on stands, probably England, circa 1900A pair of silver-framed Victorian ostrich egg boxes, London, 1854A pair of spotted ostrich eggs, painted in hiramaki-e technique with pheasants and flowers. Meiji period (late 19th century).Alphonse-Gustave Giroud. Jewelry box made of an ostrich egg, decorated with lacquer painting and set in gilded bronze, France, circa 1867An ostrich egg on a wooden stand with the image of cranes, painted using the hiramaki-e technique, late 19th century.Emu egg in a silver gilded vine-shaped setting, Steiner, Adelaide, Australia, circa 1865An ostrich egg painted with insects and flowers using the maki-e technique, late 19th century.
An ostrich egg painted with pheasants
Ostrich egg painted with pheasants and quails among the rocks and flowers by the stream. Lacquer painting on a black background with gold, silver and carmine, late 19th century.An ostrich egg, painted with cranes in a landscape, on a wooden stand. Hiramaki-e lacquer painting, late 19th century.Bowl of an ostrich egg in a silver setting, late 17th century, approx. 1695, d.Emu egg inkwell in silver gilded setting depicting an Aboriginal woman and a kangaroo on a wooden stand, J.M. Wendt, Adelaide, Australia, circa 1870Gift Jewelry Composition of an Emu Egg in a Silver Gilded Setting with Aboriginal and Ostrich Figures on a Wooden Stand, J.M. Wendt, Adelaide, Australia, circa 1880Jean-Baptiste Pilman. Chinese ornamentLacquered ostrich egg on a wooden stand. The egg is painted with the image of a peacock surrounded by plants and flowers using the hiramaki-e technique, late 19th century.Nargile of an ostrich egg in a silver frame, Ottoman Empire, 19th century.Ostrich egg inlaid in the Shibayama style, painted with gold lacquer takamaki-e pheasants, pigeons, insects, flowering trees and chrysanthemums, late 19th – early 20th century.Pair of classical style vases of ostrich eggs in gilded bronze, circa 1825
Silver ostrich figurine
Silver ostrich figurine, probably by Karl Kunz, Germany, circa 1900Three ostrich eggs painted in the maki-e technique, late 19th century.
