Leseprobe

11 Begov | Weinhold | Witting the narrow sense. Analogous to painted wood or stone works, the term paints on silver (Farbfassungen) was chosen. Paint is usually applied to cast or embossed, in part gilded silver. Before the application of paint, all steps of goldsmiths’ techniques – engravings, chasings, etchings, and fire gilding – had to be completed. But for a few exceptions, 5 the painting studied in the project was applied without foundation. The thickness of the layer of paint ranges widely regardless of the paints’ opacity, between 10 and 100 µm. Only a few objects revealed several layers of paint. The design of the ground made it possible, at least in applying translucid paints, to create an impact similar to that of enameling. This impression is amplified in part by the intentional mixing of individual paints, as shown by the very differentiated depiction of a peacock in the shape of a nautilus goblet (figs. 2 und 4). Opaque paints, in contrast, were usually applied in a monochromatic way and in a sec­ ond step decorated with fine lining effects in various colors. The painted parts thus appear natural, as can be seen in the example of a flower bouquet crowning a grape cup (fig. 5). The analytic investigations of layers of paint usually revealed largely natural resins partly combined with a drying oil as a binder. The pigment analyses reflect primarily a palette of colors that changed little from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century. Worth mention in this context when it comes to the shades of blue was the use of a blue verditer with an admixture of smalt and a natural blend of lapis lazuli/sodalite (fig. 6). In addition, Fig. 2  √ Nautilus goblet in the form of a peacock , Paulus Widmann, Nuremberg, c. 1593 –1602, silver, gilded and painted, nautilus shell, added elements: gilded copper alloy, h. 38 cm, SKD, Grünes Gewölbe, inv. no. III200 Fig. 3  Basilisk as a drinking vessel , Elias Geyer (attributed), Leipzig, c. 1600, Silver, gilded and painted, turban snail shell, h. 35.2 cm, SKD, Grünes Gewölbe, inv. no. IV 158