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5 Preview of the Decorative Arts and Old Master Paintings auctions on 30 and 31 March 2023 Sense and sensuality FOR FURTHER INFORMATION SILVER Corinne Koller ckoller@kollerauctions.com OLD MASTER PAINTINGS Karoline Weser weser@kollerauctions.com ONLINE CATALOGUES www.kollerauctions.com Since antiquity, the five senses have been consid- ered as our access to the world around us. In classi- cal thought, sensory perception was also the starting point for the theory of the four elements. In the Mid- dle Ages, the senses acquired a moralising dimension, as it was considered a vice to succumb to sensual temptations. In the 17 th century, the negative conno- tations of sensuality waned, as the focus shifted to the knowledge that could be gained through sensory experience. Allegorical representations of the five senses were particularly popular in Dutch art of the 16 th and 17 th centuries. Hendrick Goltzius established the tradi- tion with a series of engravings in which figures in pe- riod garb embodied the five senses. This model was followed in the 17 th century by artists such as David Teniers, Joos van Craesbeeck and Simon de Vos. In a large-format allegory dominated by splendid colours and painted around 1640 (ill. 2), the Antwerp painter Jan Cossiers leads us into his world of the five sens- es. In the centre of the picture sits a festively dressed young woman holding a glass of wine to her lips as she gazes at the viewer. She embodies the sense of taste. In the foreground to the right, a woman lifts a carnation to her nose to symbolise the sense of smell. Hearing is represented by the man playing a lute on the left side of the picture. The embracing couple in the background on the right stands for the sense of touch, and a woman partially ob- scured by a curtain looks directly at the viewer, evoking the sense of sight. In the same period, circa 1636–39, the Nurem- berg silversmith Johann III Wolff created a sil- ver-gilt ewer with basin (ill. 1) which could al- most have been taken from Cossiers’ allegorical scene. The provenance of this precious object can be traced back to the 19 th century. It comes 1 D etail: A silver-gilt ewer and basin. Nuremberg, circa 1636–39. Maker’s mark Johann III Wolff. H 24.5 cm. 1750 g. Estimate: CHF 60 000/80 000 2 J an Cossiers (1600–1671). Allegory of the five senses. Oil on canvas. 113 × 155.5 cm. Estimate: CHF 400 000/600 000 3 J an Brueghel the Younger (1601–1678). The rest on the flight into Egypt. Oil on copper. 23.5 × 30 cm. Estimate: CHF 70 000/100 000 from the property of an old Nuremberg patrician fam- ily, the Harsdorf von Enderndorfs, whose best-known representative was Georg Philipp Harsdörffer, an in- fluential scholar of the first half of the 17 th century. It is possible that the family owned this ewer with basin for several centuries. A characteristic example of Jan Brueghel the Young- er’s work is a high-quality depiction of the Holy Fam- ily fleeing to Egypt (Ill. 3) – a composition that is quite obviously influenced by the work of his father, Jan Brueghel the Elder. 2 3