me Collectors Room Berlin WUNDERKAMMER OLBRICHT Astonishment, discovery, understanding.
This glass cabinet shows naturalia and exotica from faraway countries: • Black Amazone with Cigarillo, German around 1835, oil on canvas. • Porcupine fish (Diodon), preparation, around 1800. • Asmat ancestor skull, acquired between 1968-72 in Biak on west Papau by an Austrian collector.
This cabinet shows naturalia of different materials: • Chamois horn cup, Salzburg, around 1700, mounts by Matthias Unverdorben, city and maker’s mark, silver, fire gilt. • Amber rosary with skill, North East German, 18th Century. • Coral crucifix on alabaster pedestal with a cross made of scagliola, South Italy, Trapani, around 1720. • Warthog tusk with gold filigree mounts, Goa or Lisbon, around 1580. • Renaissance shell spoon, South German, around 1600, spiny oyster, cowrie shell, silver, fire gilt and engraved. • Folding shell spoon combined with fork, Dutch around 1650.
Courtly amber mirror in its original case, Gdnsk, around 1670.
This inspires me to show how Homo sapiens have used the horns/hooves etc of my make believe animal – showing Homo sapien dominance over animals.
Animals as weapons. This tortoise shell has been made into a weapon. Giving me inspiration for products and objects my make-believe animal can be made into. (This is only a weapon in the form of a threat). Shrunken head, Tsantsa, Ecuador – Jivaro, 19th Century.
Hourglasses – Death themed. Ragged small death with hourglass, South German, around 1620, bronze, provenance: Paris, collection Yves Saint Laurent. Hourglass with four glasses, Nuremberg, 17th Century, Nuremberg master brand ‘Pfeil’. Ivory hourglass in its turned wooden case, South German 17th Century.
Skull Cabinet of curiosities.
Specimens in glass cabinet with pins.
A religious style cabinet of curiosities! Court cabinet with altar for private devotion, Augsburg, around 1610, ebony with ivory intarsia, paintings: oil on copper. Vanity cup, Augsburg, around 1700, enamel painting by Johann Aufenwerth (around 16591728), silver, fire gilt. Gives me inspiration for my cabinet of curiosities. Paintings are often visable on it. This is something I could incorporate into mine – a scene of the animal being worshipped/sacrificed/as a pet/as part of a feast/ as clothes.
Skeletons- I will draw a pencil anatomical or historical depiction of my make-believe animal o- perhaps showing their downfall due to Homo sapien dominance.
Wooden carvings with intricate designs on. This inspires me to decorate all the little parts of my cabinet of curiosities if I can.
Detailed Paintings of the Animals. These detailed paintings help to give a visual description of the animal to the Homo sapien audience, although, as explored in my dissertation, often these depictions were not very accurate to the actual animal! I will be creating a watercolour like this to depict my make believe animal.
Bone Jewellery/weapon/instrument. (Naturalia) Warthog tusk with gold filigree mounts, Goa or Lisbon around 1580. I will be drawing items made from my make believe animals bones like this.
Anatomical or scientific illustrations are something I definitely want to include in my cabinet of curiosities because it provides something as close to evidence as you can for a make believe animal. They have them for dinosaurs which help Homo sapiens to visualise this creature that they have never actually seen! I also found drawings and watercolours like these in the flee market in Berlin.
Specimens in frames – something I will definitely be trying to incorporate into my cabinet of curiosities.
Skulls – I will be providing drawings of these (framed) for my make believe animal in my cabinet of curiosities.
Taxidermy Animals. I don’t have the funds or time to make my own make believe animal out of botched taxidermy (putting together different parts of different animals) but I can do it with fluffy toys like the postmodern artist did with Disney characters in jars!
Rock Crystal Bowl Rock crystal bowl of the landgrave Carl von Hessen-Kassel, Kassel, dated 1688, Christoph Labhart (1644-1695), rock crystal, silver, fire gilt. A comparable rock crystal bowl of the same master has merely survived in the treasury of castle Rosenborg in Copenhagen. (Inv. No 1696.64.6).
I have bought a glass bottle which I will be labelling as something similar to this – a rock crystal bottle held to contain something to do with my make-believe animal. Or maybe glass made from the tears of the makebelieve animal (because that also shows Homo sapien dominance over animals –cruelty to the animal in order to get tears to make a beautiful vase.).
Anatomical teaching models of a pregnant woman, Nuremberg, around 1680, Stephen Zick. (1639-1715). Shows how artworks like this can act as an educational visual representation of huge importance.