WENCESLAUS HOLLAR
Prague 1607 – London 1677
31 A Muff in Five Views, 1645 – 46 Etching, 7.8 x 12.7 cm Parthey and Pennington 1952/I (of II); New Hollstein 796/I (of III)
The sketch-like composition in a marvelous early proof characterized by homogeneous printing quality, prior to the addition of the number “12” above right. With fine margins around the distinct plate mark. As though on a sheet of studies, and in contradistinction to his other miniature-style muff still lifes, Hollar illustrates five different ways a muff can be worn, and in ways that are to some extent familiar from his earlier figural compositions, for example his personification of Winter. Here, the focus of his attention is exclusively on the soft, f luffy materiality of the hand warmer, while the wearer of this precious fur, present only in sketchy and fragmentary form, remains wholly in the background. Observed with precision and represented in minute detail is not just the hairy structure and varying coloration of the glossy material, but also details of workmanship such as the numerous stitches necessary to fashion such a fine exemplar of the furrier’s art from numerous strips of pelt.
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