Charles Wertheimer, 1888 portrait by John Everett
Millais, ©RMN-Grand Palais (musée d’Orsay)/ Martin
Beck-Coppola
Eugen Gut mann by Franz von Lenbach (1836-1904), Simon Goodman Collection
Meanwhile following the success of the Dresdner Bank, at
Eugen’s art collection had grown considerably: apart from one
several important paintings the collection consisted of well in
over 500 objets d’art at its peak.
Among these were bronzes, an
miniatures, gold boxes, renaissance jewelry, crystal, maiolica, Mar
s illuminated manuscripts, but most of all renaissance silver. celebrato
The eminent art historian Otto von Falke would describe the venerable
Gutmann collection as “..worthy to rank beside the treasure-
The
chambers of princes”.
legendary “musée Spitzer”.Wertheimer
was offering
of the most stunning Nautilus cups: made in Amsterdam
1628.silver-gilt
mounts were an extraordinary beauty
sophistication.The
price was fairly steep: 75,000 Reich
or around £5000 (at the time).But
Eugen was in a
mood as the Dresdner had just taken over the
Erlanger & Sons banking house of Frankfurt.
As part of the divorce settlement it was decided that Eugen In
would sell a significant portion of the renaissance silver-gilt Kaiser
and objets d’art to his friend and colleague, in New York, Joh n
After
Pierpoint Morgan.
(In 1905 the Dresdner and J.P.
Morgan & Co.
would actually enter into an official alliance).
The resulting sa le
Dutch
forced Eugen to part with some of his most prized artworks,
including several exceptional Nautilus cups.
Today three of
these can be found in the Metropolitan Museum of New York
and two in the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum in Hartford,
Connecticut.
Goering’s
artworks
Cup went back to Berlin with Eugen where it was displayed
proudly in a magnificent cabinet, originally from Fontainebleau.
1906 Nautilus a special exhibition in honour
Wilhelm II.
Eugen’s death 1925, the Cup still remained an important
part of the Gutmann collection, now housed in his son Fritz’s
estate.And
there it remain until German
invasion of the Netherlands in May 1940.Within
a month
agents were at Fritz’s door demanding to inspect the
“Gutmann Silbersammlung” (silver collection).The
first two
acquired for ‘Reichsmarschall’ were famed
Lencker Ewer (also bought from Charles Wertheimer, and now in
and Petzolt double cups (originally from
von Rothschild, and now Detroit Institute of Arts).
Always the consummate collector, Eugen was soon looking Rijksmuseum)
for ways to replenish the perceived gaps in his collection.
In Carl
1903 he was able to secure a strikingly engraved Nautilus fro m
the Seckel family in Frankfurt (this particular cup would later
pass into the Thyssen-Bornemisza collection).
Gutmann’s
And just a yea r
later on a visit to London, ostensibly to check on the Dresdne r
branch in Old Broad St.,
Nazis
Eugen was pleased to reconnect with
Charles Wertheimer, whom he had met ten years earlier in Pa ris
Meanwhile the Nautilus Cup and other treasures from Eugen
collection had been transferred to Gutmann
family trust, and in order to avoid outright confiscation by the
Fritz Gutmann assigned all his shares the trust
his (non-Jewish) brother-in-law Senator Luca Orsini-Baroni.
Nonetheless, in 1942, the collection was commandeered by
58