Lot n° 180
Estimation :
500 - 800
EUR
Result with fees
Result
: 2 962EUR
Pays-Bas, début du XVIIIe siècle
Adam and Eve
A pair of carved ivory cutlery handles. One represents Adam in contrapposto revealing his nudity. The anomphalic man raises a drape on his shoulders and holds a bovine horn in his left hand.
The second one shows Eve, similar to an ancient pudique Venus. The two figures rest on a base decorated with acanthus leaves in the manner of Corinthian capitals.
H. : 11,5 cm
Cutlery was used as early as the 11th century by the great families of the Byzantine Empire. Thanks to the marriage of Princess Theodora Doukas to the Doge of Venice, Domenico Selvo (1071-1081), "forcheta" appeared in Italy. Their acceptance really began in the 14th century. These utensils of limited use became pieces of goldsmithery reserved for a social elite. Catherine de Médicis (1519-1589) introduced them to France, while her son Henri III (1551-1589) made them fashionable around 1574, thus spreading them throughout Europe. At the same time, the Netherlands began its Golden Age (1584-1702). As a centre of commerce, the Dutch specialized in crafts. Amsterdam became a major producer of knives and more precisely of handles. They were made of organic material such as ivory. Their numerous commercial exchanges such as those with West Africa favoured the import of exotic materials. The Dutch Republic became a supplier to England and France. It was not until 1730-50 that other production centres appeared, such as Dieppe
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