c. 1690 Augsburg Enamel ‘Hagar in the Wilderness’

A c. 1690-1700 Augsburg enamel plaque depicting Hagar and angel in the wilderness, mounted in a c. 1750-70 bodice jewel with 68 rose cut diamonds arranged in a fleurette-embellished halo. A late 17th c enamel plaque of the same subject is in the British Museum (1978,1002.547). The story of Hagar comes from the Old Testament (Genesis 16-21). It tells of an Egyptian servant girl, Hagar, who was directed to bear a son for the childless family she served. But when her master and mistress, Abraham and Sarah, produced an heir of their own, Hagar and her son Ishmael were cast out into the wilderness. Out of water and fearing the death of her child, Hagar wept and was rescued by an angel. This wilderness rescue scene is the subject of numerous 17th c paintings, prints, and texts. As a result of widespread wars, religious conflicts, and crop failures caused by the Little Ice Age, refugee crises overtook Europe throughout the 17th century. Major cities faced an influx of foreigners and poor people in need of help. A c.1662 painting by Karel Dujardin (1622-78), depicting angels rescuing Hagar and Ishmael, was likely commissioned by one of Amsterdam’s charitable organizations. A similarly themed print of Hagar, c. 1644, by Jean Valdor the Younger, is dedicated to Madeleine Fabry (wife of French chancellor Pierre Séguier) in commemoration of her charitable giving. Religious leaders like Otto Badius of Amsterdam evoked the story of Hagar to emphasize “the remarkable manner in which God took care of [those] in great crisis and difficulty”. Against the backdrop of 17th c disaster, Hagar became an avatar for foreigners, refugees, and the poor, her story and image pulmogated to encourage benevolence and compassion towards the needy.

Jewels of the present form were worn on the center-front of bodices and popular throughout Europe during the late 17th – early 18th c transition. Designs for this type can be seen on two sketches in the Llibres de Passanties, dated 1693 and 1699 (fol. 706 & 711). Surviving examples are in the Schmuckmuseum Pforzheim (see museum guide fig. 42), National Museum of Ancient Art, Lisbon (n. 866 J), and Museo Nacional de Artes Decorativas Madrid (n. inv. 1.529). The oval enamel plaques would have been made separately in a specialized enameling workshop in cities like Geneva, Blois, Augsburg, Nuremberg, or Limoges. The present Hagar plaque can be identified as Augsburg enamel due to its intense pink-blue-orange palette and comparatively heavy brushwork. Augsburg enamelers were known as “feuermaler” (fire painters) and relied on 17th c prints from Germany and France to produce their compositions. In particular, the Cassius pink enamel favored by Augsburg enamelers was a trendy new color made available only after its colloidal gold formula was discovered c.1640. For other examples of Augsburg enamel, see British Museum 1978,1002.51, 1978,1002.544, and 1978,1002.412.
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