German, dated 1592
Gnadenpfennig of Friedrich Wilhelm I, Duke of Saxe-Weimar
Live auction begins on:
June 24, 02:00 PM GMT
Estimate
8,000 - 12,000 USD
Lot Details
Description
inscribed D.G. FRID WITH D SA EL ADMINST on the front; coat of arms dated 1592 and encircled by the inscription ME IN VERBOTUO DOMINE CONSERVA ANNA SA LVT 92.
gold, rubies, pearls and enamel
length, excluding modern hook: 3 ½ in.; 90.7 mm
The present pendant, known as a Gnadenpfennig, or "honor medal" belongs to a German aesthetic tradition that emerged in the mid‑16th century and remained fashionable until the first quarter of the 17th century. These medals, typically bearing profile portraits of rulers, were distributed as tokens of favor and loyalty.1 Both men and women wore Gnadenpfennig suspended from opulent gold chains, often fitted with jewels. A 1543 portrait of Anna von Minckwitz by Lucas Cranach the Younger (Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart) illustrates this practice, by depicting the sitter wearing a portrait medal of the ruler of her principality, Elector Friedrich der Weise of Saxony.2
This medal portrays Friedrich Wilhelm I, Duke of Saxe‑Weimar (1562–1602). The surrounding inscription, D.G. FRID WILH D SA EL ADMINST, an abbreviation of Dei Gratia Fridericus Wilhelmus Dux Saxoniae, Electoratus Administrator, translates to “By the Grace of God, Friedrich Wilhelm, Duke of Saxony, Administrator of the Electorate.”
1https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O114884/medal-knopf-heinrich/
2Y. Hackenbroch, Renaissance Jewellery, London 1979, pp. 124 - 125.