Design for a Stove and Wall Fountain (?)

Anonymous, German, 16th century|Friedrich Sustris

1598 · Pen and brown ink, brush and gray wash over black chalk. Laid paper. · Drawings and Prints

This sheet contains two drawings separated by a thin vertical line in the middle. It is not entirely clear whether they represent two views of the same object, or whether they in fact show two different elements of an interior. The design on the left is clearly recognizable as the side elevation of a large stove, typical for Central Europe from the late Middle Ages onward. The design on the right could be one of two things. It might be a frontal view of the same stove, outfitted with a niche and vessel to supply hot water. Although ingenious, this does not appear to have been common at the time however. It might therefore sooner have to be considered as a separate design for a wall fountain or lavabo. From contemporary views of interiors it is known that the combination of stove and lavabo was often found in the bedroom and it was not uncommon to match their designs in the endeavor to create some unity in the style of the interior.

Artist

Anonymous, German, 16th century|Friedrich Sustris

Date

1598

Medium

Pen and brown ink, brush and gray wash over black chalk. Laid paper.

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1955