ARTES MAGAZINE

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Soon to Display Object of Baroque Era Artistry

Posted on 18 April 2010 | By Rebecca Tilles

In 2007, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston acquired a spectacular twenty-eight piece silver-gilt toilet service made by the Augsburg goldsmith, Johann Erhard II Heuglin (master 1717-1757), around 1725-1730. It represents the height of the Baroque style in Germany. 

Left: Twenty‑eight piece toilet service in original leather case marked by Johann Erhard II Heuglin (master 1717–1757) and Philipp Jakob I. Jäger (active 1715–1763), (German (Augsburg), about 1725–1730). Silver gilt, glass, boars’ bristles, original leather‑covered case with wrought‑iron hardware. Photo © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Fine Art Magazine The toilet service is comprised of four small toilet boxes (for storage of toilet articles), one large casket with lock, two round spice boxes, brush (for grooming), mirror, pair of candlesticks, écuelle with stand (for the morning bouillon, or broth), ewer and basin (for ceremonial hand-washing), tazza (for presentation of a drinking vessel), two glass flasks, scent funnel (to fill bottles with perfumed water) , covered beaker, table bell, candle-snuffer with stand (for snuffing out burning wicks), set of knife, fork, spoon and marrow spoon, all stored in its original leather-covered case. 

Baroque-style residence, Würzburg, Germany 1719-1744, der Kaisersaal (architect: Balthasar Neumann)

 Each piece of the service displays an oval cartouche decorated with small scenes of figures, such as Dianna, goddess of the hunt, with winged putti, and animals, such as stags, geese, mice, dogs, lions, horses, and fish. The form and decoration of the gold-work contains appliqué medallions on a punch-marked ground, popular Baroque motifs popularized during the Régence Period, under the reign of Louis XIV (1643–1715). 

Johann Erhard II Heuglin specialized in making table silverware and also produced a toilet service in 1722 for Empress Marie-Amélie, wife of Emperor Karl VII of Germany, conserved today in the Schatzkammer (treasury) of the Munich Residenz. A second large enamel toilet service made by Heuglin was formerly owned by the grand dukes of Mecklenburg and is now in the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe in Hamburg. [1] Although the original owner of this elegant service is not known, it was later owned by Christian IX, King of Denmark (1818 – 1906), descending within the family to Carl Castenskiold (1923 – 2006), Commander of the Royal Danish Navy. 

Interior contents of the toilet service. Photo © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

 Toilet services, also known as Toilettegarnituren, are Baroque creations of eighteenth century goldsmiths’ art. They have always been symbols of refined, ceremonial life at court during late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries and were given to both men and women as wedding gifts at princely weddings. [2] Unlike silverware owned by the crown, these sets remained the private property of the owner and were often stored in the boudoir and several toilet services of varying sizes and materials (gold, silver, enamel) might have been found in a princess’ chamber. [3] We know from several paintings and engravings that toilet services were arranged on a table draped in white muslin or lace and placed in front of a window for light, with the boxes and bottles arranged according to size in the center of the table. [4] 

Augsburg was the leading center of production of this distinctive type of toilet service containing breakfast dishes and cups for drinking coffee, tea or hot chocolate and could be appropriately transported in a fitted case when traveling. The sheer volume of toilet services produced in Augsburg during this period is partly due to the client’s ability to order a service directly from the silver dealer with the specific size, shape, and decoration in mind, which was then distributed to specialized goldsmiths. 

The MFA toilet service will soon be on view in a new permanent gallery dedicated to eighteenth century continental European decorative arts and sculpture scheduled to open with the New American Wing in November 2010. 

by Rebecca Tilles, Contributing Writer 

Rebecca Tilles is a curatorial research associate in decorative arts and sculpture in the Art of Europe Department at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and has assisted with the exhibitions “Symbols of Power: Napoleon and the Art of the Empire Style, 1800-1815” (2007) and “Splendor and Elegance: European Decorative Arts and Drawings from the Horace Wood Brock Collection” (2009). She holds a BA in French and French Cultural Studies from Wellesley College and an MA in European Decorative Arts from The Bard Graduate Center in New York. 

[1] Lorenz Seelig, “Dressing-Table Sets of the Régence and the Rococo,” in Silver and Gold, Courtly Splendour from Augsburg (New York: Prestel, 1995), p. 40. 

[1] Silber und Gold: Augsburger Goldschmiedekunst fir fie Höfe Europas, p. 431 

[1] Ibid., p. 433 

[1] Seelig, p. 40. 

Museum purchase with funds donated anonymously and William Francis Warden Fund, Mary S. and Edward J. Holmes Fund, Frank B. Bemis Fund, Edwin E. Jack Fund, Arthur Tracy Cabot Fund, Russell B. and Andrée Beauchamp Stearns Fund, Harriet Otis Cruft Fund, Seth K. Sweetser Fund, H. E. Bolles Fund, Helen B. Sweeney Fund, Jane Marsland and Judith A. Marsland Fund, Warren Collection—William Wilkins Warren Fund, Mary L. Smith Fund, Alice M. Bartlett Fund, Samuel Putnam Avery Fund, Benjamin Pierce Cheney Donation, Frank M. and Marty T. B. Ferrin Fund, Joyce Arnold Rusoff Fund, Amy M. Sacker Fund, and by exchange from the Bequest of Maxim Karolik, Gift of Mrs. Sidney T. Allen, Bequest of Frank Brewer Bemis, Gift in memory of Dr. William Hewson Baltzell by his wife Alice Cheney Baltzell, John Gardner Coolidge Collection, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Stephen C. Greene, Gift of Mrs. George Linder, Gift of Miss M.H. Jewell, Gift of the Walpole Society, Bequest of Helen S. Coolidge, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John Templeman Coolidge, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Newhall Smith in memory of her husband, John Wheelock Elliot Fund, Otis Norcross Fund, Gift of the Trustees of Reservation Estate of Mrs. John Gardner Coolidge, Gift of Mrs. Henrietta Page, Susan Greene Dexter Fund, Anonymous gift in memory of Charlotte Beebe Wilbour (1833‑1914), Gift of Francis H. Bigelow, Bequest of Charles Hitchcock Tyler, Swan Collection—Gift of Miss Elizabeth Howard Bartol, Gift of Mrs. Guy Lowell in memory of her husband, Guy Lowell, Bequest of James W. Paige, Gift of Mrs. Henry Mason, Bequest of Mrs. John H. Thorndike, and Gift of Miss Louise M. Nathurst.