The lid is inlaid on its outside with scenes from the medieval story of Virgil the Sorcerer, intended as a humorous warning against the "wiles of women." Corresponding inlay on the inside shows a Fountain of Youth and Orpheus playing music to the animals, surrounded by an inscription based on a German drinking song. The maker, Hans Wagner, signed himself Pixenshifter, gunstock maker.
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Top, closed lid
Detail of interior of lid
Detail of exterior of lid
Detail of front panel with signature
Three-quarter, open
Artwork Details
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Title:Box For Crossbow Bolts (Bolzenkasten), Probably Made for William IV, Duke of Bavaria (r. 1508–50)
Maker:Hans Wagner the Elder (German, Munich, recorded 1539–56)
Date:dated 1539
Geography:Munich
Culture:German, Munich
Medium:Wood (lid and front panel: fruitwood, possibly pear; bottom: walnut; inlay: possibly sycamore; later repairs: mahogany moldings and Indian rosewood veneers on sides), staghorn, iron, gold, paste, paper
Dimensions:H. 3 5/16 in. (8.4 cm); W. 16 in. (40.6 cm); D. 7 31/32 in. (20.2 cm)
Classification:Archery Equipment
Credit Line:Purchase, Bashford Dean Bequest, 1969
Object Number:69.199
Inscription: Inscribed on the front of the box: HANS WAGNER PIXNSCHIFTER MDXXXVIIII IAR; on the inside of the lid: O WEIN DV EDLER LANCZMAN KAIN PESER GESELE ICH NIE GEW A DEN ICH LIEWER WILT PEI MIER WISEN WA ICH ZV MORGE HAB ANGEPISEN. VN BESCHIRM MICH VOR DER STRAVCHEN WA ICH DIE STEIG HINAW SOLT HAVCHE.
Ex. coll.: Frederic Spitzer.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Relative Values: The Cost of Art in the Northern Renaissance," August 7, 2017–October 7, 2019.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Relative Values: The Cost of Art in the Northern Renaissance," October 7, 2019–February 24, 2021.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Relative Values: The Cost of Art in the Northern Renaissance," February 24, 2021–January 23, 2022.
Spargo. "Virgil the necromancer : studies in Virgilian legends (Harvard studies in comparative literature, vol. X.) Cambridge, Ma, 1934." In Virgil the Necromancer : Studies in Virgilian Legends. Cambridge, MA 1934: Harvard University Press.
Medieval & Renaissance Art, Paintings, Sculpture, Armour and a Few Pieces of 18th Century Furniture. New York: Anderson Galleries, January 9–12, 1929. p. 101, lot 256, ill. (this bolt-box, inscriptions incorrectly read).
Works of Art; The Jay C. Leff Collection of Chess Sets, Maiolica & Isnik Pottery, Gothic & Later Ivories, Italian Renaissance Sculpture, German Wood Carvings, Renaissance to 18th Century Bronzes. New York: Park-Bernet, New York, November 14, 1969. p. 90, lot 90.
Howat, John K., Berry B. Tracy, Vaughn E. Crawford, Helmut Nickel, Hilde Limondjian, Bradford Kelleher, Kate C. Lefferts, Adolph S. Cavallo, Jacob Bean, Harry S. Parker III, Henry G. Fischer, Claus Virch, Stuart Silver, Fong Chow, Dietrich von Bothmer, Richard Ettinghausen, Louise Condit, Elizabeth R. Usher, Florens Deuchler, Dorothy Weinberger, Emanuel Winternitz, John T. Conger, Margaret P. Nolan, Dudley T. Easby Jr., John J. McKendry, Leon Wilson, Jack Frizzelle, William D. Wilkinson, Marica Vilcek, Henry Geldzahler, and John Goldsmith Phillips. "Reports of the Departments." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin (October 1970), 9.
Art at Auction: The Year at Sotheby's & Parke Bernet, 1969–70. New York, 1970. p. 320.
Nickel, Helmut. "Der Bolzenkasten des Hans Wagner, Pixnschifter, 1539." Waffen– und Kostümkunde: Zeitschrift der Gesellschaft für historische Waffen– und Kostümkunde, Waffen- und Kostümkunde, 30, ser. 3 v. 13, no. 1 pp. 26-34, fig. 3 (our box illustrated and discussed).
"Kaminentwurf von 1533 für die Burg Trausnitz." Berliner Museen 22, no. 1 p. 52.
Schalkhaußer, Erwin. "Peter Peck, ein Münchner Büchsenmacher des 16. Jahrhunderts." Waffen– und Kostümkunde: Zeitschrift der Gesellschaft für historische Waffen– und Kostümkunde, Waffen- und Kostümkunde, 33, ser. 3 v.16, no. 1 p. 26.
Hayward, John F., and Sotheby Parke Bernet & Co. The Hever Castle Collection: The Property of The Lord Astor of Hever. Vol. I. London: Sotheby Parke Bernet & Co., May 5, 1983.
Hall, Nicholas, James Lane, and Ulla Krempel. "J.L. David's sword for the Ecole de Mars." Apollo: The International Magazine for Collectors (July 1989), pp. 416-442.
Breiding, Dirk H. A Deadly Art: European Crossbows, 1250–1850. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2013. pp. 131–134, no. 49, figs. 6.8–6.10.
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