Rare carved boxwood nutcracker in the form of a head wearing - Lot 61

Lot n° 61
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Estimation :
2000 - 3000 EUR
Result with fees
Result : 4 940EUR
Rare carved boxwood nutcracker in the form of a head wearing - Lot 61
Rare carved boxwood nutcracker in the form of a head wearing a lawman's bar, with a wide guilloche collar and medium-length hair curled into a shell; face with pronounced features, furrowed eyebrows, blunt nose and wide mouth with movable lower jaw; body adorned on three sides with a bird with a large curved beak, a sort of griffin on the front, repeated in an upright position on one side; lever arm with monster mouth. Beautiful patina. First quarter of the 16th century L. 18.3 cm (slight accidents and cracks) Works consulted : - J. A. Rittenhouse, Ornamental & Nutcrackers and Identification & Value Guide, Ed. Collectors Books, 1993, p. 66. - A. Wagner, The Art & Character of Nutcrackers, The Leavenworth Museum, Ed Collectors Press, n.d., p.21. - Sale Paris, Hôtel Drouot, Me Fraysse, Collection Michel Rullier, October 11, 2022, lots 134 and 138. This nutcracker is one of the earliest models of this type of object, of which only a small number have survived. However, several examples can be linked to this one: one illustrated in Rittenhouse's book (fig.a), two others belonging to the former Rullier collection, one of which features a griffin, the closest being a carved example of the same fabulous animal in the Wagner collection (fig.b). Their place of production is not well defined, but most likely French.
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