GOETZ: Early Period Ephemra Acquisitions

cacheman

Hi All,

I have held off on posting much about my most recent acquisitions from the Goetz family in fear that by mentioning it, the whole deal might fall through. I now know that the articles are on US soil and feel a little better about showing some examples from the transaction. The photos below were provided by the grandson.

Goetz's early period has been little studied to date. Kienast mentions his apprenticeship period throughout europe but doesn't go into much depth. I don't know if this was caused by his lack of interest for this period of Goetz's life or if he didn't have the information given to him. Either way, it is a robust period in Goetz's formative years and I have been lucky enough to acquire most, if not all, of the known information and some unique items of his jewelry designs.

Goetz had put together a 60 page binder full of his early designs, some carried to fruition after arriving in Munich, done in pen/ink, watercolors, and pencil. It appears he cut the designs from whatever he was drawing on at the time and pasted them onto watercolor blotters which he then numbered and kept in a binder.

Here is the binder containing 60 blotters. Part 1 of Acquisition



Here are a couple of examples of the blotters with mounted designs.




A sketch booklet with cane handle designs with master silver handles included.



Part 2 of the Acquisition includes 10 unique jewlery pieces. Here is one of them. This piece was designed to attach to a chain and hang over the wearers breastbone.



Part 3 of the acquisition are documents.

Here is Goetz's handwritten autobiography...only one of these lying around I'm afraid.



The deal also includes apprenticeship workbooks and Certifications of Completion such as this one from Le Locle Switzerland in 1899.



Documentation also includes Goetz's passports, workbooks, art organization membership books, etc. such as these:




I'm thinking that this material needs to be combined into an Early Period "prequel" to the Kienast Volumes I & II., and then, of course, an updated Volume III needs to be done too. At least I have some new information that would justify my time and energy to put this all together.

Better pics will be posted once the box of goodies arrives. I figure another week or so before it clears customs.

Enjoy!

Hussulo

His early work is so beautiful.

Not that his later work isn't as good its just it is different more political and superb in its own right.
However I find his work depicted here more peaceful.

Congratulations on amassing what is no doubt the greatest collection of Goetz material that there was or ever will be.

farthing

Simply stunning artwork! That first drawing and the necklace are classics.

Teg

Top draw.
Very good.

Thanks for sharing!

ormandh

Wow, you are a museum of all things cool!

DorkGirl

Thanks for taking the time to share this with us. I can't wait to see your pics.

DeepSix

All I can say is "Wow". That's an amazing collection you have acquired.

These examples of his early work have piqued my interest. I'm only familiar with his later, more politically driven pieces. If you ever decide to compile these works and publish them, you can put me down for a copy.

Absolutely amazing. Thanks again for sharing.

WWW

Scott, you just blew my mind. Again. An incredible acquisition. I love the drawings and the jewelry is a new dimension for me.
And quite the understatement: Here is Goetz's handwritten autobiography...only one of these lying around I'm afraid.

Iosephus

Wow, great stuff! I can't wait to see your pics.

Silvereagle82

I glad all this collection found a caring home. Great piece of history and thanks for sharing now and in the future.

HonoluluDude

<< <i>
Part 2 of the Acquisition includes 10 unique jewlery pieces. Here is one of them. These piece was designed to attach to a necklace and hang over the wearers breastbone.


>>

theboz11

Just beautiful. Congrats on you show win in Portland.

oldshep

Scott - I am,for once, speechless. Incredible artifacts and history. You are making sure Goetz's art lives.

Shep

cacheman

THE PACKAGE HAS ARRIVED...and it has exceeded all my expectations. There are hundreds of drawings and paintings from not only his early period jewelry designs but many of his medal and plaquette designs too. I swear, it's going to take me months to catalog all this stuff. There is easily twice as much material as I expected.

I have taken some down and dirty unpacking photos to document the arrival and will try to get a few up later tonight but it might be later in the weekend. Hell, I can't even eat dinner I am so excited...we are talking about a collection that no Museum in the world can match!!! I am absolutely beside myself...more later!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

GoCoins

Cacheman, I am SPEACHLESS. Unbelievable! Congratulations and I cannot wait to see more pictures. I am out of the loop. Did you purchase the estate, or is this a consignment? Regardless, just seeing the few images provided by the grandson made my day.

Also, sprechen sie Deutsches?

cacheman

GoCoins...one of the smartest decisions I ever made was to purchase the www.karlgoetz.com domain name and place my funky little gallery of my medal collection on the web. Why? Because a couple years ago I was approached by a Goetz family member who found me via a web search and subsequent visit to my site. Over the past couple of years anything offered to me via this family connection I bought. My first purchase was Karl's personal coin cabinet (search this forum for 'Goetz' and that thread will pop up. At the same time I purchased Karl's engraving tools and letter punches too...with the purchase they tossed in a number of documents , certificates, medals, gypsum models, etc. as extra little bonuses. I also found a cache of study pieces in the cabinet (see cabinet thread). Then this purchase was offered a couple of months ago. The family member has been ill and in the hospital a lot so it took some time to finalize the transaction. This purchase turns out to be the most import I think as I now own hundreds of original jewelry designs from his Paris period as well as perhaps another 60-70 medal design drawings. Also jewelry pieces, silver design masters of cane handles, personal documents for his apprenticships, etc., etc. By far the art nouveau conceptual ink and watercolor drawings/paintings are the cream of the crop. It's going to take a while to soak it all in. S

spoon

I continue to be amazed by your Goetz acquisitions, and I'm sure it's safe to say we all share your excitement

Let me know if you need help with transcribing and translating any of the documents, I've got plenty of free time these days.

Garneteye

A great artise need a great collector to insure that he/she is exposed to the world. Looks like Goetz has found his collector!!!

Bravo!

Dan

laurentyvan

Take any collectible item, surround it with ephemera (not that the original cabinet is ephemeral) specifically relating to the item(s) and the value increases exponentially.

Were I you, the insurance policy on this inclusive collection would be rather large, to say the least.

I imagine that within a decade or two a museum will want your collection and allow you to retire in comfort.

Question is, will "Cacheman" give you the cache that the collection deserves? In other words, will this be the 'Cacheman Goetz' collection?

IloiloKano

cacheman, do you have plans to have the paper conserved? Some of it appears to have a high level of acidity, and that should be neutralized. You can removed some of the acidity by sprinkling Baking Soda over the paper and leaving it for a few days, but you should seriously consider contacting a conservator, if you have not already done so.

Also, have you thought about having a Master Jeweler fabricate some of the designs? Commercial, I know. But some of those jewelry designs appear to be extremely marketable, and I see nothing wrong with attempting to recoup some of your investment in such a manner.

cacheman

<< <i>cacheman, do you have plans to have the paper conserved? Some of it appears to have a high level of acidity, and that should be neutralized. You can removed some of the acidity by sprinkling Baking Soda over the paper and leaving it for a few days, but you should seriously consider contacting a conservator, if you have not already done so.

Also, have you thought about having a Master Jeweler fabricate some of the designs? Commercial, I know. But some of those jewelry designs appear to be extremely marketable, and I see nothing wrong with attempting to recoup some of your investment in such a manner. >>



I need to catalog and record everything before taking it to a conservator in Portland. At this point in time, I will probably only be able to deal with the ones in the most precarious condition...reason, cost. I haven't shown you guys Karl Goetz's Madrid Exposition Silver Medal Certificate he received posthumously. I got the piece free because it had been tacked up on the inside of one of the cabinet doors. I sent the piece back to Oppenheimer in Chicago for conservation. The piece was free but the conservation was $700...granted it was in terrible condition.

I am not complaining about this as I feel this is my duty while I am the current steward of the piece ( my philosophy is that we never truely 'own' art but are just temporary caretakers) but an acquisition such as this most recent one will need to be staged not unlike a triage station...working on the most in need first...and so on... They've lasted this long and are actually in a better environment now which is far drier than Munich was. I have been on the internet all morning looking for lateral storage units/safes that are both waterproof and fireproof that can fit in my larger fireproof safe. I can't trust a banks safe deposit box due to humidity concerns.

I haven't even considered jewelry fabrication...actually, many , if not all, of these designs should have been made as actual pieces at that time...he worked for several jewlery firms as their designer. What I need to do is start looking at websites that carry this period of jewelry and finding actual pieces that were created...I have the road maps to find them now...as I've always said, knowledge is power!

spoon

There's always Antiques Roadshow

I'd love to see everyone's reaction if you ever walked on the set with this stuff!

cacheman

<< <i>There's always Antiques Roadshow

I'd love to see everyone's reaction if you ever walked on the set with this stuff! >>



In honesty? I'm trying to get tickets for the San Jose venue of the show in August. I'll take this stuff if I do...my worry is that they wouldn't have a clue what it is...even if I told them. Then they'd make ME look like a fool because they'd claim the drawings are probably worth $200-300.

Really though, you'd be surprised how few people know about Goetz...even in Germany! Anyone even knowing about art medals in general is a small group! You know, I got my undergraduate degree in Art...never saw one art medal in all the art history courses I took...I never knew about them either until five years ago when I started collecting.

Anyway, that's my worry...I'd just get a blank dumbfounded stare from the appraiser...

IloiloKano

<< <i>The piece was free but the conservation was $700...granted it was in terrible condition. >>


I will talk to a gentleman, a British ex-Patriot now living in Southern California, who is renown for his conservation and restoration abilities, but who has extremely limited his clientelle, due to advanced years. I do believe that your items would be of the sort that would cause him to consider a new client, and that is saying a lot. His talent is on par with Bernard Middleton, and they are certainly contemporaries. When he started to cut back on clients, only accepting the most important works for his labor, his prices were outrageously low, so I told him to raise his prices until the workload dropped to a level with which he was comfortable. He did raise his prices a bit, but he just didn't feel comfortable charging the extremely high prices that less able men were charging in LA, so he then restricted his clientelle to those who appreciated his ability, and who brought to him important historical items for his labor. He is in his eighties now, but his skill is undimenished. If he is ameniable to considering the task, I will PM you, and if he isn't, it will most likely be that he has so much backlog already. In which case I would advise that you contact Bernard Middleton in England for the work. In the mean time, sprinkle some Baking Soda over the pages of his handwritten autobiography in order to slow the obvious deterioration.

I was taught Antiquarian Book Restoration for free by the gentleman to whom I am referring, because he apparently took a liking to me, but to do things right, it can be very labor intensive, and I still have a first edition / first printing of The Farther Adventures of Robinson Crusoe to finish, which has been partially complete now for over a year! And that isn't counting several other important but less valuable work.

edited to add...

My mentor, 9 years ago, holding products of my efforts under his tutalige, which are matching bindings of the 1692 First Edition (in English) of Aesop's Fables and the 1699 First Edition of Fables and Storyes Moraliz'd, after "washing" and resizing every single page, then re-sewing using natural linen thread and silk (sewn) headbands, and finally rebinding in proper antiquarian style in calf, ruled in blind, with red morroco gilt labels, all edges sprinkled in red and silk ribbons. Two FINE volumes, which a dealer immediately purchased for $1,200 and resold the same day to a client for $2,500. I wish I had kept them both!

cacheman

sprinkle some Baking Soda over the pages of his handwritten autobiography in order to slow the obvious deterioration

Funny you should mention this article. I noted last night after going through everything a second time, that this packet was not present in the box. I have written the family member asking about it. There is a language barrier between us and sometimes we are talking about the same thing. Since he reduced the asking price by nearly half, I wouldn't be surprised that he might be saving this for another transaction. I had suggested we break the items up to minimize financial ruin for me but was under the impression that the written document was part of the deal. If it wasn't that's okay too because what I did receive this time was far more extensive in content than I had expected.

I am wawaiting his response. I have also asked for a receipt which we were both remiss on this time around. I want it primarily for provenance for future owners after I'm dust.

HonoluluDude

<< <i>
Really though, you'd be surprised how few people know about Goetz...even in Germany! Anyone even knowing about art medals in general is a small group! >>



So when are you going to do a Goetz wikipedia entry to educate the masses? None exists as far as I know.

shirohniichan

A stunning collection indeed!

I am not complaining about this as I feel this is my duty while I am the current steward of the piece ( my philosophy is that we never truely 'own' art but are just temporary caretakers) but an acquisition such as this most recent one will need to be staged not unlike a triage station...working on the most in need first...and so on...

I'm glad to know you think this way as it means the collection is more likely to survive for future generations to appreciate.

Thanks for sharing!

cacheman

I'll need to do further study to ascertain if these designs were for jewelry or medals, or even cross-over conceptual drawings that could be used in either product venue. I find it interesting that most of the 'round' format design sizes match up to the same size that medals were being produced.

Anyway, just some quick down and dirty images so you can see what I've got here. This book with approximately 60 blotter sheets has between 350-500 drawings (I stopped counting last night at 75 on the first five pages).

Enjoy.


Jungendstil-Entwürfe, Paris um 1900

Page 12

12a pencil/ink/inkwash 40mm




12b pencil/ink/inkwash 40mm




12c pencil/ink/inkwash 40mm




12d pencil/ink/inkwash 25mm

cacheman

A pretty little lady...

5c Ring Design, pencil, ink/ink wash, 56m X 14mm

farthing

I'm loving these design studies!

RWB

Beautiful acquisition!

coinpictures

Just out of curiosity, and my apologies if this has already been discussed, but do you have any plans to loan any of your Goetz collection to a museum so more people can partake of it?

cacheman

YES, but even by their estimates, it would take a minimum of three years between agreement signing and actual opening of the exhibit...and we haven't come to an agreement as yet.

With this new acquisition I may have the museums finally courting me rather than the other way around.

cacheman

Here is an example of one of the 80-90+ medals concept sketches I received. More finalized than many, this one apparently had the wrong date before being corrected on the medal. I wonder if Karl was dyslexic...he always had dates goofed up.

Anyway, the drawing is for the obverse side of K 456 which, in this case, is a 60mm silver example from my collection, however, the drawing is 106mm in diameter and this would coincide with the finished size of a cast example, give or take 2-3mm for shrinkage in the casting process. The next step after finalizing the design like this one would be for him to sculpt the piece into a clay or wax model.

I'm pretty sure these drawings have never been seen outside the family before. enjoy.

Weiss

That's so kick ass from start to finish. On the subject of loaning the work to a museum: I'm sure you've thought of it, but maybe you could loan the collection in exchange for conservation of the most at-risk pieces? Win-win, if it could work.