Johann Eissler Lot n° 413

Museum ivory lidded tankard Silver, gilt. The oval-cylindrical body with volute handle and domed hinged lid on a foot bulge with palmette frieze. The ivory mantle of the wall with a finely carved multi-figure battle scene. The lid with corresponding, chased and finely chased decoration; a fully carved ivory group of two opposing fighters as a crown. The raised arm of the standing figure is lost. Marks: BZ Nuremberg for 1688 - 1692, MZ Johann Eißler (1665 - 1708, GNM no. BZ28, 198), tremolier engraving. H 33.5 cm, weight 2,098 g. Nuremberg, Johann Eißler, 1688 - 1692, the carving probably attributed to Johann Michael Hornung from Schwäbisch Hall. The tankard depicts a dramatic equestrian battle against Ottoman warriors, referring to the legendary battle during the Second Turkish Siege of Vienna in 1683. The soldiers of the Ottoman army are depicted here, clearly distinguishable, in oriental dress with turbans and moustaches, while their opponents of the imperial army of Leopold I are fighting either in contemporary 17th century costume or in antique armor with Roman armour. The group of figures on the lid symbolizes the defeat of the Ottomans by the imperial army and the triumph of Christianity over the 'infidels'. Expert opinion Marketing authorization DE-K-240325-149 for the EU internal market available. Provenance Verst. Fischer Lucerne, Aug. 31, 1933, lot 298; Rütschi Collection, Zurich; auctioned Fischer Lucerne, June 16 - 20, 1953; Hessian private collection. Literature Cf. a lidded tankard by Eißler with an almost identical structure and pictorial program in the collection of the Grünes Gewölbe, illustrated in Jutta Kappel, Elfenbeinkunst im Grünen Gewölbe zu Dresden, Dresden 2017, no. II.12.Another in the collection of the Margraves and Grand Dukes of Baden, auctioned by Sotheby's in 1995, lot 482. Our tankard illustrated in Weltkunst, issue 12, 15. 6. 1953. On the attribution of the ivory carving to Johann Michael Hornung, cf. a signed tankard in the Green Vault, published by Jutta Kappel, op. cit, No. II.11. Another in the Hohenlohe Museum in Neuenstein, also depicting a Turkish battle, is illustrated in Armin Panter (ed.) Hohenlohe, das Kirchberger Kunstkabinett im 17. Jahrhundert, Sigmaringen 1995, no. 9. This object was made using materials for which a CITES permit is required for export to countries outside the EU. We would like to point out that a permit is not usually issued.