An unusual case in the shape of a slender trout with a complete set of knives from the late 16th century has now been added to the Bavarian National Museum’s collection in Munich
Rare trout-shaped sheath with six-piece knife set from the late Renaissance. Photo: Bavarian National Museum/Bastian Krack
Rare trout-shaped sheath with six-piece knife set from the late Renaissance. Photo: Bavarian National Museum/Bastian Krack
The Bavarian National Museum in Munich can be pleased about an original acquisition that was made with the support of the Friends of the Museum: the six-piece set of knives and the trout-shaped sheath date from the 16th century, perhaps from Italy. This precious rarity was undoubtedly once the property of a high-ranking personage and probably belonged to a princely cabinet of curiosities.
The highlight is the case: black and red dots shimmer across the golden scales. You would think you were looking at a live fish. The thought of the delicious fasting dish, which could be prepared in 18 different ways in Marx Rumpolt’s “(..) New Cookbook” from 1581, makes the viewer’s mouth water. However, when attempting to fillet the trout, it turns out to be a deceptively lifelike container containing six magnificently decorated knives with delicate bone handles.
Cutlery cases in the shape of trout from the Renaissance period are rare. Only a handful of examples have survived: one from the property of Cosimo I de’ Medici in the Grassi Museum in Leipzig, one in the German Blade Museum in Solingen, one in the Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester and two others in a Belgian and Swiss private collection. The decisive comparative piece is in the collection of the Grünes Gewölbe of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen in Dresden.
In 1640, this masterpiece is described in the inventory of the Electoral Saxon Kunstkammer: “1 Gepapter fisch, auswendig wie eine forelle gemahlet und fomiret, inwendig mit 6 stuck meßern, so perlenmutter hefte oder griffe haben.” The similarity between the Dresden and Munich trout is striking: the realistic shape and coloring suggest a close temporal and spatial context of their creation. Even though the Munich specimen is 34.9 cm
5 centimeters longer, the conception is identical.
The head piece can be pulled off directly behind the gills, revealing the six blades. The Dresden example differs only in the more elaborate design of the knife handles using mother-of-pearl and fire-gilded bronze. As part of the princely cabinet of curiosities, the trout sheath demonstrates the high esteem in which objects that effectively imitate nature were held. This can also be seen in the 16th century in the enthusiasm for nature casts in bronze and silver or for naturalistically designed faience.
Princely collectors enjoyed surprising and delighting their dinner guests with playful animal automatons. It was probably in this context that the trout made its appearance. When the museums open, this rare document of courtly table culture will be on display in the Bavarian National Museum