SHOWCASE 39. WORKS OF ART BY HAMBURG SILVERSMITHS

The Armoury collection of Hamburg silverware consists of more than three hundred pieces and represents works by 70 makers of the late 16th - early 18th century. Hamburg was one of the richest port towns in Germany, where Russian merchants purchased gold, silver and articles made of precious metals. Hamburg jewellers were known for their varied techniques of metalworking and jewellery-making. 

The museum possesses numerous artworks made by Hamburg silversmiths and 4 works by Jacob Mores the Elder, a successful merchant and the head of a leading workshop. They include three goblets in the forms of vases, decorated with figurative and floral ornament, and a horn carved from the elephant's tusk and enchased in silver. Jacob Mores the Elder and his educational and commercial activities helped to raise the skills of Hamburg goldsmiths and secure many esteemed orders from the royal courts of Denmark and Sweden.

Characteristic features of the Hamburg works are high-relief chasing, embossed ornamentation, the use of flat engraving and the development of decorative sculpture. From the 1650s, the ornamentation of the Hamburg silverware included popular floral design. This fashion is evident when viewing a vase with a tulip-shaped bowl and a dish chased with floral ornament. Royal receptions and the tradition of awarding silver works for various services required a vast amount of them. The Moscow government gave foreign makers special commissions resulted in the development of specific types of silverware, which forms were typical of Russian plates and the decor imitated the ornament of west european jewellery. Thus we find loving-cups among the goblets, ewers and dishes.