Loading
The Burghley Nef
Unknown1527-1528 (made) - 1528
The Victoria and Albert Museum
London, United Kingdom
Details
- Title: The Burghley Nef
- Date Created: 1527-1528 (made) - 1528
- Location Created: Paris, Ile-de-France
- Type: Salt cellar
- Rights: Supported by The Art Fund (Cochrane Trust) and the Goldsmiths' Company
- External Link: http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O73113
- production: Unknown
- Subjects Depicted: Tristan; Iseult; wolf; mermaid; sailing ship
- Place Part Of: Ile-de-France
- More Information: Medieval manuscript illuminations from as early as the 14th century show similar nefs acting as lavish and public status symbols on the dining table, often marking the place of the host or honoured guest. The January miniature from the Très Riches Heures manuscript (c 1413–16) of Jean, Duc de Berry, shows a large nef placed to the left of the principal diner, as does the painting for the same month in the Flemish-made Grimani Breviary, of about 1510-20. Nefs were particularly prized in France and Italy, where noble and royal inventories from dating back to the 13th century list copious silver and gold ships, but their appeal was more widespread, reaching Germany, Spain and the Low Countries. In a culture where gift-giving played a major role in domestic diplomacy, nefs would have satisfied the contemporary passion for giving and receiving ingenious, finely crafted goldsmiths’ work. The Burghley nef would probably have been specially commissioned, but it is clear from contemporary depictions of goldsmiths’ shops that smaller, less elaborate nefs were part of the medieval goldsmith’s stock-in-trade.
- Materials and Techniques: Nautilus shell with parcel-gilt silver mounts, raised, chased, engraved and cast, and pearls.
- Dimensions: Height: 34.8 cm, Width: 20.8 cm, Depth: 12.2 cm, Weight: 0.78 kg
Get the app
Explore museums and play with Art Transfer, Pocket Galleries, Art Selfie, and more
