Wood carvings by Frank Wittstadt

[Christian Folini]

Dear all,

On a regular base, i post links to various websites to this list
after being asked by the owners of the said websites. In this case,
the maker of the items in question does not have a website. So
it was i, who asked him to provide me with photos i could present 
to you.

Frank Wittstadt is a restorer by profession and he is
currently in the final stages of his formation.

He is specializing in wood, wood carving and wood painting.
He is recontructing wooden artifacts too and this is where
he starts to become interesting for the Company.

I provide you with pictures of three reconstructions,
together with my translation of his german comment.

You can reach Frank via frank_wittstadt-at-web.de.

Box #1.
http://folini.tikon.ch/images/linked/box-wittstadt-1.jpeg
http://folini.tikon.ch/images/linked/box-wittstadt-2.jpeg
This is a copy from the Bavarian national museum. According to
the record of the item, the little box has been created around
1500 somewhere in the Alps. The research has notion of this
style of decoration, yet Frank has seen multiple boxes in various
depots of museums of this type. Still the boxes of the Bavarian
museum (and of the other museums) are hardly ever on display,
because they put only that on display, which is heavily decorated.
The fittings are made of brass, stamped (?) and penetrated.
The corpus is made of cherry tree with the traceries of inlay,
on a background of painted paper. Inside, the box has a lining
of painted parchment with blooms, decorated with gold of shells (?)

Box #2.
http://folini.tikon.ch/images/linked/box-wittstadt-3.jpeg
This is the same technique - yet there is no direct example of this
item. But in the Bavarian national museum, there is a similar box with
sliding lid and tracery decoration. But on that item, only the paper
was painted. The colors have been taken from another box with
tracery. The pigments are the earth colors "earth of Verona",
"Franconian Red Bolus" and "Golden Ocher". Earth pigments are typical
colors for painted items of the less rich social groups. 
As binding, a casein binding system has been used, as it was cheeper.
However, the colors get a fainter look compared to a emulsion
made of oil.

Box #3.
http://folini.tikon.ch/images/linked/box-wittstadt-4.jpeg
http://folini.tikon.ch/images/linked/box-wittstadt-5.jpeg
According to "Kohlhausen, Minnekästchen im Mittelalter", this is
a small box with diamond background. This type has been in production
in the 1st half of the 15th in the Upper Rhine region. The item on
display stems from the historical museum of Basle. It is a rectangular
box with Minuscules on a diamond ground. The character do not make
sense from our perspective. Unlike the original, there are cross-
bracings inside the box, as it has been made to be used for the
storage of shells for painters. By the use of these bracings, there
is less danger of an upcast due to the change of humidity.

Thanks to the restauration / technological analysis of a box from the 
State Museum of Baden, Frank is able to reconstruct these boxes
to the very detail.
During the said restauration, he was able to see 30 boxes of this type
in various museums.
The box he has restored can be seen in the book:
Spätmittelalter am Oberrhein. Alltag, Handwerk dun Handel 1350-1525,
Catalogue, page 130.
-> http://folini.tikon.ch/images/linked/restored-box-wittstadt.jpeg
Attention: This is an original, restored by Frank. It is not for sale.
	
A few remarks in the use of the word box. Frank uses the German word 
"Lade", which i can not properly translate. I have found ark, but i am 
not sure if this is correct. The German word "Lade" implies a sliding 
lid, but not always.

Of course Frank is open to make custom type boxes or other carving
work on comission.

The prices for the items described above is high, as you may
have expect. But they are all for sale. If you are interested, do 
get in touch. Making a living as young restorer is not easy.

best regards,

Christian

-- 
Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum sonatur.
--- Signature found on www.slashdot.org