The Censer

Engraving, 1880 circa, signed M + S (M with slanting sides). Copy by Martin Rister, after Martin Schongauer.

Excellent example, printed on laid paper, occasional light foxing, otherwise in very good condition.
On verso, upper right, collection mark: “A. Chenu. Artiste Décorateur Orléans (not in Lugt): at lower right, a second collection mark of Pierre Sentuc (Lugt 3608)

Schongauer's Censer is one of his most virtuosic engravings-his nearly flawless control of the burin permitting such extravagant ef-fects as the perfectly executed lengths of chain, casually piled on the table. The rings with which the censer would be carried are invitingly placed in the foreground as though tempting the viewer's grasp. These chains pass through the looped arms of angels on their way to join the body of the incense burner, and the open- ings through which the smoke would pass are outlined in elaborate Gothic tracery. Architectural finials rise past a group of cavorting angels at the top, and the body of the vessel itself stands on a graceful lobed foot. The entire object has been modeled and shaded with a care that would be unusual for a "mere" working drawing. Lehrs considered this, too an actual working model for goldsmith work (see .105), but Flechsig argued that it is instead an illusionistic representation of such an object. This engraving is of such compelling beauty that other engraver-goldsmiths were the ones who copied it: Master IC of Cologne, Isharel van Meckenem, and event the noneteenth-century Colmar goldsmith, Martn Rister.

Martin Rister (1815 – 1883) was a Colmar goldsmith who obviously great ability as an engraver. His near-perfect copy is slightly smaller than Israel van Meckenem’s, buti s of excellent quality, and is a much greater rarity than the Schongauer original.