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Georg Gisze by Holbein the Younger

Gemaldegalerie, Staatliche Museen, Berlin

Georg Gisze, a German merchant in London

Painted in 1532

(200 Kb); Oil on wood, 96.3 x 85.7 cm (38 x 33 3/4 in); Gemaldegalerie, Staatliche Museen, Berlin

This border is called a Kufic border. Kufic is a form of script and some people have suggested that this border looks like script. That always sounded to me as a dealers story.

A 'Small Pattern Holbein' rug, first half 16th C.

DESCRIPTION

The 'Small Pattern Holbein' design is named after the artist Hans Holbein the Younger, a similar rug appearing in his Portrait of George Gisze of 1532. Holbein was, however, by no means the only artist to depict a rug of this group in his work and many examples can be identified in European painting from the mid 15th to the mid 16th century. Other than the Holbein portrait mentioned above, some of the most famous examples include Piero della Francesca's fresco San Sigismondo e il Malatesta, 1451, Tempio Malatestiano, Rimini; Andrea Mantegna's Madonna and Child with Saints, 1459, San Zeno, Verona

; http://www.kfki.hu/~arthp/html/m/mantegna/2/index.html

and The Somerset House Conference by Juan Pantoja de la Cruz, 1604,

The National Portrait Gallery, London (see Mills, John, 'Small Pattern Holbein' Carpets in Western Paintings, Hali vol. 1, no. 4, 1978, pp. 326-334).

The particular variation of the 'Kufic' border seen on this rug is classified as the 'C1' type by Pinner, Robert and Stanger, 'Kufic' Borders on 'Small Pattern Holbein' Carpets, Hali, ibid., pp. 335-338. The chronology of the rugs of this group is far from certain, but it seems that the type 'C' border is more frequently encountered in 16th century, rather than 15th century, examples.

For related examples at auction, see Sotheby's New York, 15 December 2000, lot 60; Christie's London, The Christopher Alexander Collection, 15 October 1998, lot 218 and Christie's London, 12 October 2000, lot 201. These three examples were all fragments, whereas the present lot, although very worn and damaged, is a complete example.

Picture of Small Pattern Holbein from www.Sothebys.com

Georg Gisze by Holbein the Younger is from http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/holbein/


Above is a 1755 encyclopedia page showing three box type camera obscuras with prism or lens arrangements at the top to direct the image down to the drawing surface.	6 1/2" tall, this 19th century brass lens for a portable tent camera or box obscura is actually a prism that directs the image outside down onto a drawing board inside the tent or box. The artist would sit inside or more often place his head and arms into openings in the side as seen in the illustrations to the right and left.