A CIRCULAR CARVED AMBER RELIEF OF ORPHEUS CHARMING THE ANIMALS

In terms of scale, subject matter and quality the present roundel relates very closely to a series of amber boxes listed by Rohde, two of which are in the Schloss museum, Berlin and another in the Nordbömishces Gewerbemuseum, Reichenberg (Berstein - Ein Deutscher Werkstoff, Berlin, 1937, pls. 272, 276 and 274 respectively). All these examples broadly date from the 17th century, although the more sculptural high-reliefs tend to have been produced towards the end of the century and almost certainly in north Germany. By comparison, the present roundel is exceptional for its complexity - especially in the varying depths of field - and in its emotive subject matter where Orpheus, the legendary Thracian poet, is depicted in a pastoral idyll. The roundel is also notable for the carving of a stag to the reverse, which may represent a heraldic motif.