Object details
Object number
M21w7
Creator(s)
German
Title
Ostrich
Date
17th century
Medium
Ostrich egg with silver mount
Dimensions
45.5 cm (17 15/16 in.)
Signatures, inscriptions, and markings
Inscribed (edge of the base): two indistinct marks, a hand and D L (?)
Inscribed (left leg): an unidentified coat of arms
Provenance
Entered Isabella Stewart Gardner's collection at an unknown date. (as English)
Commentary
This silver ostrich cleverly uses an ostrich egg--considered exotic materials by its German maker--as its body. One theory speculates that these types of vessels, who's heads are detachable, were used in a drinking game. Not only would the consumer have trouble ingesting liquid from the narrow neck, but the ostrich's wings would flap their face.
Isabella displayed two more ostrich eggs in the museum's galleries, although this is the only one with such remarkable craftsmanship and perhaps a history of practical jokes.
Bibliography
Gilbert Wendel Longstreet and Morris Carter. General Catalogue (Boston, 1935), p. 181. (as probably German, 17th century or later)
Kaeley Ferguson, "Not Your Grandmother's Silver Cabinet," Inside the Collection (blog), Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 12 January 2021, https://www.gardnermuseum.org/blog/not-your-grandmothers-silver-cabinet
Gallery
Dutch Room
Rights and reproductions
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