Link only available on sub pages

This ivory frigate was a Kunstkammer object of the highest quality – and a tribute to the dynasty that ruled Saxony. The delicate ivory mainsail displays the coat-of-arms of Elector Johann Georg the First and his wife Magdalena Sibylla. Engraved onto the boards of the vessel are the names of Johann Georg’s ancestors. The list begins with Haderich, who was supposed to have lived before the birth of Christ, and runs right up to the seventeenth century until Johann Georg I.

The tiny sailors climbing the masts are also carved out of ivory. The canon are made of gold. There are anchors and chains. The rigging is gold wire.

This frigate was produced by Jacob Zeller, for which he received the princely sum of three thousand guilders in the summer of 1620 – just a few months before his death. Zeller held the post of court turner in Dresden. and he was not just an excellent ivory turner but also a brilliant carver of figures.  Combining these talents, he has created an unusual iconographic statement with this vessel. The large frigate is carried aloft by Neptune and his mermaids. Like Fortuna, the goddess of good luck, the mighty sea-god balances on a winged sphere that is lying in a seashell.