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Terrestrial globe compass
French (Dieppe?)
around 1675-1685
Medium/Technique
Engraved ivory
Dimensions
Diameter: 2 1/4 in.
Credit Line
Gift of the heirs of Bettina Looram de Rothschild
Accession Number2015.109a-b
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsTools and equipment – Surveying and navigational
Tools and equipment – Astronomical
Tools and equipment – Astronomical
DescriptionThe globe's surface is engraved all over with simple foliage decorations in black and equinoctial, tropical, arctic and antarctic circles and zodiac and with the months of the year. The halves separate to reveal a fitted interior containing a brass compass with folding gnomon, and in the other half, a printed compass directional chart
ProvenanceBy 1903, Nathaniel von Rothschild (b. 1836 - d. 1905), Vienna [see note 1]; by descent to his nephew, Alphonse de Rothschild (b. 1878 – d. 1942) and Clarice de Rothschild (b. 1894 – d. 1967), Vienna; 1938, confiscated from Alphonse and Clarice de Rothschild by Nazi forces (no. AR 2642) [see note 2]; taken to the Kunsthistorisches Museum and stored at the Central Depot, Neue Burg, Vienna; September 13, 1940, given over to the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, for the Plastik-Sammlung and later removed to the monastery of Kremsmünster and subsequently to Alt Aussee; 1945, recovered by Allied forces; 1947, donated under coersion by Clarice de Rothschild to the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, for the Kunstkammer (KHM inventory no. KK 9854) [see note 3]; 1999, restituted to Clarice de Rothschild's daughter, Bettina Looram de Rothschild (b. 1924 - d. 2012) [see note 4]; by descent to her heirs; 2015, gift of the heirs of Bettina Looram de Rothschild to the MFA. (Accession Date: February 25, 2015)
NOTES:
[1] Nathaniel von Rothschild, Notizen über einige meiner Kunstgegenstände (Vienna, 1903), p. 90, cat. no. 213. Also see the Inventar über die in den Nathaniel Freiherr von Rothschild'schen Nachlass gehörigen, in dem Palais in Wien, IV. Bezirk, Theresianumgasse Nr. 14 befindlichen Kunstgegenstände und Einrichtungsstücke (Vienna, 1906), p. 41, cat. no. 167.
[2] With the Anschluss, or annexation of Austria to Nazi Germany in March 1938, the possessions of Alphonse and Clarice de Rothschild were seized and expropriated almost immediately by Nazi forces. This compass appears in a Nazi-generated inventory of 1939 as no. AR (Alphonse Rothschild) 2642: "Kleine Weltkugel, aus graviertem Elfenbein, enthaltend eine Sonnenuhr und einen Kompass." Katalog beschlagnahmter Sammlungen, inbesondere der Rothschild-Sammlungen in Wien, Verlags-Nr. 4938, Staatsdruckerei Wien, 1939, Privatarchiv, reproduced in Sophie Lillie, "Was einmal war: Handbuch der enteigneten Kunstsammlungen Wiens" (Vienna, 2003), p. 1088.
[3] This item was catalogued at the Central Depot, and given over to the Kunsthistorisches Museum in 1940. Card no. AR 2642, Bundesdenkmalamt, Vienna, available on the website of the Zentral Depot Karteien online. It was probably among the many works of art stored elsewhere by the Nazis, which were moved to the abandoned salt mines of Alt Aussee in Austria, to be kept safe from wartime bombing. Allied troops recovered the looted artwork at the end of World War II, and established collecting points where the art could be identified for restitution to its rightful owners. In 1947 Clarice de Rothschild visited the salt mines at Alt Aussee, where she was able to identify the crates of works of art from her family’s collection, facilitating its return shortly thereafter. However, Austrian authorities required her to transfer certain works of art to the state in exchange for permission to export the remainder of the collection. The "dedication" of this object in 1947 is noted on the Central Depot card.
[4] In 1999, upon the recommendation of the Austrian Commission for Provenance Research, the works of art that had been "donated" by Clarice de Rothschild in 1947 were released by the Austrian state museums and returned to her daughter, Bettina Looram de Rothschild.
NOTES:
[1] Nathaniel von Rothschild, Notizen über einige meiner Kunstgegenstände (Vienna, 1903), p. 90, cat. no. 213. Also see the Inventar über die in den Nathaniel Freiherr von Rothschild'schen Nachlass gehörigen, in dem Palais in Wien, IV. Bezirk, Theresianumgasse Nr. 14 befindlichen Kunstgegenstände und Einrichtungsstücke (Vienna, 1906), p. 41, cat. no. 167.
[2] With the Anschluss, or annexation of Austria to Nazi Germany in March 1938, the possessions of Alphonse and Clarice de Rothschild were seized and expropriated almost immediately by Nazi forces. This compass appears in a Nazi-generated inventory of 1939 as no. AR (Alphonse Rothschild) 2642: "Kleine Weltkugel, aus graviertem Elfenbein, enthaltend eine Sonnenuhr und einen Kompass." Katalog beschlagnahmter Sammlungen, inbesondere der Rothschild-Sammlungen in Wien, Verlags-Nr. 4938, Staatsdruckerei Wien, 1939, Privatarchiv, reproduced in Sophie Lillie, "Was einmal war: Handbuch der enteigneten Kunstsammlungen Wiens" (Vienna, 2003), p. 1088.
[3] This item was catalogued at the Central Depot, and given over to the Kunsthistorisches Museum in 1940. Card no. AR 2642, Bundesdenkmalamt, Vienna, available on the website of the Zentral Depot Karteien online. It was probably among the many works of art stored elsewhere by the Nazis, which were moved to the abandoned salt mines of Alt Aussee in Austria, to be kept safe from wartime bombing. Allied troops recovered the looted artwork at the end of World War II, and established collecting points where the art could be identified for restitution to its rightful owners. In 1947 Clarice de Rothschild visited the salt mines at Alt Aussee, where she was able to identify the crates of works of art from her family’s collection, facilitating its return shortly thereafter. However, Austrian authorities required her to transfer certain works of art to the state in exchange for permission to export the remainder of the collection. The "dedication" of this object in 1947 is noted on the Central Depot card.
[4] In 1999, upon the recommendation of the Austrian Commission for Provenance Research, the works of art that had been "donated" by Clarice de Rothschild in 1947 were released by the Austrian state museums and returned to her daughter, Bettina Looram de Rothschild.