Jamnitzer table centrepiece
A gilt silver piece in which a goddess carries a bowl on her head, surrounded by cast herbs and insects.
Wenzel Jamnitzer (1507/08–1585) was Nuremberg’s most famous goldsmith and worked for four emperors. The piece is called the Merkelsche Tafelaufsatz after a later owner. It is in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.
Materials: Silver gilt, enamel
Manufacture: Little plants and animals were cast from life and soldered on; the figure raised and chased.
Grasses, flowers and beetles so lifelike because they were cast from real plants and creatures.
The earth goddess carrying the bowl, a living column.