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Internationell Kvalitetsauktion
10 – 13 juni 2025 »
To be sold at Uppsala Auktionskammare’s Important Sale Week 10 – 13 June 2025
Nr 267 Pomander Högklassigt arbete i barock tillskrivet medaljgravören Johan Blum (Bremen ca 1599‑1668, verksam i Köpenhamn omkring år 1660). Skuren valnöt besatt med monteringar i förgyllt silver. Rikt skuren dekor av inskriptioner och figurer. H inklusive ögla men exklusive kedja 39 mm.
Lot 267. A RARE AND HIGHLY IMPORTANT POMANDER Attributed to the medal engraver Johan Blum (Bremen ca. 1599 1668), active in Copenhagen ca. 1660. Carved walnut with gilt silver mounting. Both shell halves have a rich carved decoration in the form of inscriptions and figures. Each shell half is lined on the inside with a gilt silver bowl, the outer edge of which is serrated and folded around the outer edge of the shell. On one shell half’s silver mounting is engraved inscription: ”Sii Menniskian, Joh: 19 V. 5.”. The inner part of the other shell half is divided into six small compartments for fragrant substances. Between the two shell halves there is a thin plate of gilt silver. The nut is equipped with a hinge and a small lock with a six-leafed flower and a round ring-shaped loop. The outside of the nut has a rich decoration. On one half, an inscription in Danish: ”JESV BLOD HAR OS FORLØST HER I LIFVE ER VOR TRØST”. The inscription begins and ends with a small stylized flower (possibly the signature of the medallist J. Blum). The decoration consists of the weapons of Christ’s, Arma Christi, or Instruments of the Passion. A cross with the titulus (INRI), the crown of thorns and a shield with the heart of Christ, hands and feet with wound marks, i.e. the five wounds of Christ. The shield is flanked by two angels in robes holding banners with a sun and a crescent moon respectively, representing the eclipse which occurred during the Passion. Around the cross are more instruments, the ladder, the pillar of flagellation, the rooster, the lantern, Judas’ money bag, the robe, the flagellum, the rod, the bulrush, the pincers, the hammer, the washbowl with jug and the dice. This side of the nut is reproduced on a engraving from 1588 by Johann Sadeler (I) after Maerten de Vos. The other side of the nut also has a rich decoration. The inscription also in Danish: ”HERREN OS OC FRELSER GVD OC RET VI ELSKER”. This part shows two symbolic figures in antique clothing and with palm branches flanking an altar decorated with six open crowns. One figure holds a sword and the other a weighing scale. Next to the figure with the sword are a hen with chicks and a vine with grapes. Next to the other figure is a beehive with bees. At the top, within a radiant sun, the Hebrew name of God. Below the altar a crowned C-monogram.
Compare with a similar pomander attributed to medal engraver Johan Blum in the Danish royal collections at Rosenborg castle.
80.000 – 100.000 SEK
€ 7.300 – 9.000
The Swedish noble family Nordenskiöld since 1849. Before 1849 owned by the Swedish noble family Stålhammar.
Chr. A. Bøje, Balsambøsser og hovedvandsæg, Rosenkilde og Bagger, København, 1950, s. 25.
Jørgen Hein, The treasure collection at Rosenborg Castle: the inventories of 1696 and 1718 : royal heritage and collecting in Denmark-Norway 1500‑1900 Vol. 2 Catalogue part 1, Museum Tusculanum Press, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, 2009, s. 73‑74 (the pomander now at auction is mentioned in the text).
Elaborate symbolism compressed into a miniature form the pomander at this auction is possibly expressive of the preceding tensions ca. 1660 between Sweden and Denmark. The two neighbouring countries had after a cruel war concluded a peace that would be lasting. One way to present the conditions in the language of art/ handicraft was using a natural walnut, a small item indeed, covering it with images from Christian belief as well as symbols of the character generally popular during the European Baroque.
The outer shell was worked in two halves with their own set of ideas expressed. A pomander (also called pomamber) is a small globe-formed container for various fragrant substances, such as musk. Here the inside of one shell is divided into six compartments for such perfumes.
The pomander that is now for sale is made in Denmark and attributed to Johan Blum, who between 1657 and 1664 was licensed as die cutter for gold and silver and small coins, rarities and medals. There is a similar example, also with six compartments which would originally have held spices or perfumes, attributed to him, in the Danish royal collections at Rosenborg Castle. The carvings are different but stylistically and technically similar to the example now at auction. On the pomander in Denmark one of the two halves of the walnut has carved portraits of king Frederik III, surrounded by national and provincial coats of arms, and of Queen Sophie Amalie in a ring of inscriptions denoting the seven virtues. On the other half the subject is taken from a crown coin struck to mark the storming of Copenhagen 1659, when the Swedes under king Karl X Gustav were repulsed.
The walnut now for sale was possibly made to celebrate the peace between Sweden and Denmark 1660, perhaps a gift from the Danish king to the Swedish king? On one side two symbolical figures, likely Justitia and Mars, with palm branches and with scales and sword respectively. Next to the figure with the sword are a hen with chicks and a vine. Next to the other figure is a beehive with bees. All below a radiant sun with the Hebrew name of God, Jehovah. One interpretation is that after peace comes prosperity under the almighty God. The beehive is a symbol of diligence and the vine and the hen, with her chicks, a symbol of Christ, under whose shadow we all are protected. This side appears to be inspired by a medal from 1651 (Hamburg, Free and Hanseatic City) on the Peace of Westphalia by Sebastian Dadler, a contemporary of Johan Blum.
The six crowns on the front of the altar do not correspond to any known coat of arms. However it could allude to the fact that both Sweden and Denmark had the three crowns in their coat of arms, a source of conflict. Or are the crowns a symbol, of Christ’s victory and triumph over death? Below the altar a crowned C-monogram, which could refer to King Karl X Gustav.
On the other half Arma Christi (“weapons of Christ”), or the Instruments of the Passion, are the many objects associated with the Passion of Jesus Christ. This side of the nut is reproduced on an engraving from 1588 by Johann Sadeler (I) after Maerten de Vos, an important Flemish painter (See Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, object number RP-P-OB-5902).
The sufferings – of life in general or war in particular – are brought home by the many decorative details dear to Renaissance and Baroque religious art and works of piety. This treasure of themes was richly exploited by the many engravings and other prints also current in many collections available to the workshops of the period. During the Renaissance and Baroque ornament and narrative details are taken either from general books of patterns such as were used by all craftsmen or sometimes from very specific engravings. ■
Text by Magnus Green, Stockholm