Chalice

The modeling of this chalice corresponds to the Augsburg examples of this type of object. Its high-arching round base is covered in repoussé floral decorations characteristic of the known works of Sebestyén Hann. The bulging elements of hammered floral ornamentation standing out from the deeper contours were not gilded. A collar of applied leaves with engraved decoration hangs down over the top of the plain, tapering cylinder of the upper base. Above this, there is an undulating flat ring and a node with an inverted pear shape decorated with repoussé leaves that have been left ungilt. The gilt cup is surrounded by an openwork calix extending halfway up its bowl that has leaves, tendrils, and floral decorations similar to the motifs of the base.

The formerly legible master’s mark stamped onto the flat rim of the foot (“SH” in an oval shield, see: Rosenberg 8085; Kőszeghy 1437) is only known from previous literature about the item. Due to damage to that part in 1941, it is now incomplete and the second letter is barely distinguishable. Its closest parallel, similar in every detail besides the differing shapes of the node and the collar, is the example preserved at the Saint Peter and Paul (Szent Péter és Pál) parish church in the center of Brassó (Braşov, Romania), which also has the Hann master’s mark on the edge of its base (Gyárfás Tihamér: Hann Sebestyén kelyhe Brassóban [The Chalice of Sebestyén Hann in Braşov]. Muzeumi és Könyvtári Értesítő 3. 1909/2–3, 137–138). The two chalices also show close similarities in their type and method of decoration to the example donated to the Lutheran church of Szászorbó (Urwegen, present-day Gârbova, Romania) in 1707 with dual master’s marks that has remained in situ. These three objects make up a clearly distinguishable category in the works with Hann marks (none of these have a city mark). The repeated form and method of working as well as the damage to the Budapest example lead to the conclusion that these were regularly produced, primarily functional items. Based on the date indicated for the donation of the Szászorbó chalice and considering the stylistic characteristics of the three objects, Viorica Guy Marica places the most likely dates of manufacture for the works in this group between 1707 and 1713, thus linking them to the presumed final period of Hann’s career.

The precise original location of this Budapest chalice, which is believed to have been lying around since the Second World War, is unknown. In 1930, its owner was the Budapest dentist and art collector Dr. József Deutsch, who loaned the item to the Museum of Applied Arts for its exhibition on ecclesiastical art and Transylvania in that year. He then auctioned it off at the Countess Éva Almásy-Teleki Art Institute. It found its way to the Museum of Applied Arts in 1961 as a part of a large group of objects purchased from the Hungarian National Bank.

by Anna Ecsedy