Founded in 1995, www.Wünderkammer.com
takes great pride in representing the finest examples of
World Art Textiles et. Ceramics
Q. What exactly is the definition of the word Wünderkammer?
A. Wünderkammer is the German word for a “wonder-room.”
The classic style of a Wünderkammer, emerged in the sixteenth century, although more rudimentary collections had existed earlier. The Kunstkammer of Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II, (ruled 1576-1612), housed in the Hradschin at Prague was unrivalled north of the Alps provided a solace and retreat for contemplation that also served to demonstrate his imperial magnificence and power in symbolic arrangement of their display, ceremoniously presented to visiting diplomats and magnates.
During this time, “cabinets” which actually were large rooms of art ,artifacts and curiousities were limited to those who could afford to create and maintain them. Many monarchs, in particular, developed impressive collections. A rather under-used example, stronger in art than other areas, was the Studiolo of Francesco I, the first Medici Grand-Duke of Tuscany. Frederick III of Denmark, who added Worm’s collection to his own after Worm’s death, was another such monarch. A third example is the Kunstkamera founded by Peter the Great in Saint Petersburg in 1727. Many items were bought in Amsterdam from Albertus Seba and Frederik Ruysch. The fabulous Habsburg Imperial collection, included important Aztec artifacts, including the feather head-dress or crown of Montezuma now in the Museum of Ethnology, Vienna.
Similar collections on a smaller scale were the complex Kunstschränke produced in the early 17th century by the Augsburg merchant, diplomat and collector Philipp Hainhofer. These were cabinets in the sense of pieces of furniture, made from all imaginable exotic and expensive materials and filled with contents and ornamental details intended to reflect the entire cosmos on a miniature scale. The best preserved example is the one given by the city of Augsburg to King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden in 1632, which is kept in the Museum Gustavianum in Uppsala.
In 17th-century parlance, both French and English, a cabinet came to signify a collection of works of art, which might still also include an assembly objects of virtù or curiosities, such as a virtuoso would find intellectually stimulating. In 1714, Michael Bernhard Valentini published an early museological work, Museum Museorum, an account of the cabinets known to him with catalogues of their contents.
FURTHER READING
The Origins of Museums: The Cabinet of Curiosities in Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century Europe, ISBN 1-84232-132-3
If you have questions about our catalog please contact us at mail@wünderkammer.com