ALBRECHT DÜRER Knot with Seven Ring Forms . Woodcut, 1505-07. 270x212 mm; 10 3/4x8 1/2 inches, small margins. Second state (of 2), with the monogram center. Double-headed eagle with a small coat-of-arms with a diagonal band and two stars watermark (Meder 219, which he dates from the mid-1500s). A very good Meder 2b impression, with strong contrasts. Ex-collection Lucien Goldschmidt, New York, with the label on the frame back. According to Passavant, Dürer's woodcuts from the series of so-called Six Knots were based on Italian engravings from the circle of Leonardo da Vinci made around 1490-1500. Bartrum notes that the earliest impressions of Dürer's Knot woodcuts were printed on paper with an Italian watermark of a cardinal's hat, also seen on Dürer's drawings from his Italian sojourn in 1505-07, which makes it likely that these woodcuts were produced by the artist while he was still in Venice or shortly after his return to Nuremberg. "It is unclear what type of ornament is indicated in these designs. They may have been designs for embroidery or they may have served as patterns for a kind of decorative puzzle for artists working in various crafts. Similar knot designs occur in paintings and mural decorations of Leonardo's school, such as the ceiling of the Sala delle Asse in the castle at Milan," (Bartrum, Albrecht Dürer and his Legacy , Princeton, 2002, p. 161). An exceedingly scarce woodcut; we have not found another impression at auction in the past 30 years. Bartsch 143; Meder 277.
ALBRECHT DÜRER Knot with Seven Ring Forms . Woodcut, 1505-07. 270x212 mm; 10 3/4x8 1/2 inches, small margins. Second state (of 2), with the monogram center. Double-headed eagle with a small coat-of-arms with a diagonal band and two stars watermark (Meder 219, which he dates from the mid-1500s). A very good Meder 2b impression, with strong contrasts. Ex-collection Lucien Goldschmidt, New York, with the label on the frame back. According to Passavant, Dürer's woodcuts from the series of so-called Six Knots were based on Italian engravings from the circle of Leonardo da Vinci made around 1490-1500. Bartrum notes that the earliest impressions of Dürer's Knot woodcuts were printed on paper with an Italian watermark of a cardinal's hat, also seen on Dürer's drawings from his Italian sojourn in 1505-07, which makes it likely that these woodcuts were produced by the artist while he was still in Venice or shortly after his return to Nuremberg. "It is unclear what type of ornament is indicated in these designs. They may have been designs for embroidery or they may have served as patterns for a kind of decorative puzzle for artists working in various crafts. Similar knot designs occur in paintings and mural decorations of Leonardo's school, such as the ceiling of the Sala delle Asse in the castle at Milan," (Bartrum, Albrecht Dürer and his Legacy , Princeton, 2002, p. 161). An exceedingly scarce woodcut; we have not found another impression at auction in the past 30 years. Bartsch 143; Meder 277.
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
