Schenck, Christoph Daniel (und Werkstatt/and workshop)

Description:

Konstanz 1633-1691
11,7 x 7 x 1 cm
Breast cross of a clergyman, probably an abbot. Boxwood, worked in relief on both sides, patinated brass mount. On one side Christ on the cross above a Mater Dolorosa and incised signature of the Schenck workshop "C.D. S." as well as indistinct date "16...". On the other side depiction of Saints Domenicus, Francis and Anthony of Padua, in the upper niche Joseph with the Child. Signs of wear. Damage due to age, minor losses.
German private collection.
Christoph Daniel Schenck came from a family of sculptors in Constance; he probably learned from his father Hans Christoph Schenck, who came to Constance from Mindelheim. Christoph Daniel Schenck worked for the prince-bishop of Constance and for important monasteries in his diocese. In addition to large wooden figures, e.g. the crucifixion group in the Leonhard Chapel in Sonderbuch near Zwiefalten, Schenck specialised above all in small-format relief panels made of boxwood as well as small figures and relief work in ivory, which show all his masterly skills. He usually signed and dated his works with his initials "C.D.S." or "C.D.Schenck". Thus, a large number of works could be attributed to him and his workshop with certainty.
In the case of our cross, the depiction of Saints Francis, Dominic and Anthony - all friars - suggests that the piece was originally made for an abbot. It bears the signature "C.D.S.", which is usual for the Schenck workshop, although, as usual in these cases, it cannot be determined with certainty whether it was made by Schenck himself or by his workshop.
A pectoral cross by Schenck of similar size and with the depiction of St. Christopher was once in the Städtisches Museum in Ulm.
Lit. Rosengartenmuseum Konstanz, Augustinermuseum Freiburg, WLM Stuttgart, Christoph Daniel Schenck 1633-1691, Thorbecke 1996, p. 9 ff. and fig. 10