Escher, Rolf (geb. 1936 in Hagen) Lot n° 6209

Goethe's top hat box. Grey pencil on vellum. 32,3 x 24 cm. Signed "Rolf Escher" at lower left, dated "Offenbach, 23.4.91" at lower right and inscribed "Goethes Zylinderhutschachtel (ca 1825) im Ledermuseum Offenbach". The fact that Goethe also attached great importance to his appearance during his travels can be seen in the portrait of the poet by Heinrich Christoph Kolbe from 1822 (Klassik Stiftung Weimar). It shows Goethe on his Italian journey standing on a hill in front of the Gulf of Naples, with the smoking Vesuvius behind him. In his hand the poet holds a small notebook. Over his shoulders falls the black travel coat, while he has put his top hat and walking stick on an antique fragment. The case depicted here, made of fine calfskin and holding the great poet's top hat, accompanied Goethe throughout his life on his smaller and larger journeys. Today it is kept in the leather museum in Offenbach.