Engageant

Flanders

18th century

  • Titles Engageant (Descriptive)
  • Medium linen
  • Dimensions 7 x 26 3/4 in. (17.8 x 67.9 cm)
  • Credit Line Gift of Mrs. Rosalie Joseph Leventritt in memory of her mother Jennie Marx Joseph, 1955.9.49
  • Work Type engageant
  • Classification Costume

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Large, cast iron tobacco box in the form of a seated, bearded Sir John Falstaff wearing sixteenth-century garb with a large belt and ruffled collar in a scene from Shakespeare's "Henry IV" (act 2, scene 4) in which Falstaff pulls his dagger and proclaims "…this chair shall be my state, this dagger my scepter…!" Falstaff is seated in an armchair whose armrests end in goat's heads, below the chair on either side is a bearded male mask; Falstaff's crossed feet rest on a small stool, the chair and stool rest on a base decorated with scrolls; his right arm is raised and his hand holds the handle of his dagger (the blade is broken off); his left arm rests on the chair's armrest while his left hand supports a long sword, which rests against his knee. The upper torso is hinged and opens to reveal the interior of the tobacco box.
Urn-shaped potpourri vase or bulb pot of solid white jasper with dark blue jasper dip and applied white and dark blue jasper relief decoration, on round foot with a band of acanthus leaves around it and engine turned to create a blue and white checkerboard pattern with darker blue quatrefoils on the white squares, the lower body with stylized acanthus leaves and a laurel leaf vine running horizontally around the waist, the upper body likewise engine turned to create a blue and white checkerboard pattern with applied darker blue jasper quatrefoils on the white squares, with a white insert cover pierced with seven holes, the interior with a sump cover over the bolt.
Small chamberstick of dark blue jasper dip with white relief decoration, the saucer with an outer band of overlapping leaves and in the well a circular pattern of stylized acanthus leaves, the candleholder is blue and white striped and has a series of garlands around the neck, the loop handle of white jasper and with a thumbrest in the form of an acanthus leaf.
Pair of vases of solid light blue jasper with applied white jasper relief decoration, each on round foot decorated with overlapping acanthus leaves, the tapered body with a pattern of four fluted columns ending in lion's feet, with lion's head's with rings in their mouths at the top of each column, with a band of twisted ribbon around the lower body and a band of ribbon and oak leaves at the top, the main body with floral and fruit festoons between the columns as well as small oval medallions with classical vignettes, including a flying cupid, a detail from Sacrifice to Hymen, Venus bound by Cupid, and a classical figure, the flared lip with the same overlapping acanthus leaf motif as around the foot.