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Kapandji Morhange
An exceptional pocket or belt mirror assumed to
have belonged to Leonardo da Vinci.
Ivory and silver. Italy, circa 1500.
Height: 122 mm. Width: 52 mm.
Provenance:
– Collection of Mrs. Jubinal de Saint-Albin, daughter of
Achille Jubinal, former owner of the Clos Lucé, Leonardo
da Vinci’s last home.
– Collection of Michel de Bry,
Collection d’un
humaniste
auction, December 5, 1966 at Hôtel Drouot.
– Collection of Mr. and Mrs. G., since 1966.
References:
–
Bibliothèque d’un humaniste
[Michel de Bry]:
manuscrits, livres, objets d’art.
Auction at Hôtel Drouot, December 5 and 6, 1966,
under the ministry of auctioneer
Étienne
Ader.
Reproductions of the mirror were published on the
catalog’s title page and in figure XX (lot 213).
– Serge Roche,
Miroirs, galeries et cabinets de glace
.
Reproduced in figure 209.
– Maze-Sencier,
Le Livre des collectionneurs
(1885),
page 756.
– Ernest Bosc,
Dictionnaire de l’art et de la curiosité
(1883), page 460.
The production of tin-plated mirrors (the renowned
mercury mirrors) was developed in 15th century Venice.
These mirrors were extremely reflective and, above all,
were of exceptional purity, but were very limited in size
because they were made from blown glass cylinders that
were then cracked and flattened on a stone.
For any further information, and if
you haven’t detected the anagram,
please contact Elie Morhange at +33
(0)1 48 24 26 10 or by email
at
kapandjimorhange@gmail.comLeonardo da Vinci’s Unique Mirror For Sale!
Rare quill-pen carving knife.
Bronze, 16th century, H.: 6.9 cm.
Provenance:
Former collection of Achille Jubinal, Ader-
Picard, Hôtel Drouot, Room 8, March 24,
1969, lot 81.
Bibliography:
-
Le Magasin pittoresque
, 1878, beginning on
page 85.
-
Machines et inventions approuvées par l’Académie
royale des sciences
,
Tome troisième (1713-1719)
,
Chez Gabriel Martin, rue Saint-Jacques, Paris,
1735, beginning on page 57.
The middle of the knife blade is used to remove
the front end of the quill. The feather is then
inserted into an opening in the monster’s mouth,
which is engraved on the base of the instrument.
A thread activates an internal spring, and a small
blade falls onto the quill, slicing and sharpening
it in a single movement.
As early as 1666, a knife that cut quills in a
single movement was presented as a novelty at
the Academy of Sciences, and the technique
was continually improved up until 1715,
when Monsieur de la Chaumette presented a
modernized version before that same academy.