Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Figure of the Day: The Wild Man Chandelier Brass, 15th C.



Chandelier Brass
Germany
Fifteenth Century
The Victoria & Albert Museum


Made in Germany in the Fifteenth Century, this brass figure once adorned a chandelier—likely in a church or cathedral. Chandeliers in religious buildings afforded an opportunity for craftsmen to display their wares, and, therefore, they tended to be highly elaborate and decorative.

It’s difficult to specifically place the exact spot in Germany where this brass was made, but it’s a safe bet that it was in Nuremburg which was a center of brass manufacture prior to the Seventeenth Century.

The brass wild man once held a club and a shield, but these were lost—presumably around the same time he was stripped from the chandelier.
             



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