Provenance of the Artworks
The restitution application concerns fourteen items and groups of items that are part of the NK Collection. The Applicant sees similarities between these items and certain items that supposedly belonged to the Morpurgo art dealership’s trading stock during the occupation. To this end the Applicant compared data from the NK Collection about the Artworks with the SNK declaration forms completed by Lion Morpurgo and the surviving business records of the Morpurgo art dealership. These records include invoices, for example dating from the period that administrator Jansen was in post, the inventory that Jansen drew up when he became the administrator, and a purchase and sales ledger covering the period between 1919 and 16 October 1941, which according to the Applicant was kept up to date by his great-grandfather Louis Morpurgo. The Applicant comments about this ledger (hereinafter also referred to as the Morpurgo inventory book) as follows:
This book tells me the purchase date and price and the Morpurgo inventory number of the items with striking similarity to the respective NK numbers. The purchase and sales ledger moreover shows whether the work had not yet been sold before 16 October 1941, the day on which entries in the ledger end.
Provenance research into the Artworks was aimed primarily at verifying whether the Artworks can indeed be identified as items that belonged to the Morpurgo art dealership’s trading stock during the occupation and during this period involuntarily ceased being in the possession of the art dealership.
NK 3 – Louis XV commode with five drawers
Information about the piece
NK 3 is a Louis XV commode with five drawers, made from mahogany with rosewood and satinwood veneer, brass fittings and a grey marble top, by an unknown maker, with dimensions 87 x 132 x 57 cm (h x b x d), dated c. 1750.
Louis XV commodes were produced in large numbers during the eighteenth century. French furniture was so highly sought after in Amsterdam in the second half of the eighteenth century that an import ban was imposed in 1771 in order to protect Amsterdam furniture makers. A great deal of veneered furniture was made in the ‘French style’ in the Netherlands starting in about 1760. French commodes and commodes in the French style are typified by, among other things, a marble top, metal fittings and decoration on the apron. The identification of individual pieces of furniture is usually difficult because makers were not obliged to stamp or sign their work.
The Morpurgo commode
The Applicant identifies NK 3 as a commode that was purchased on 28 May 1937 in London and belonged in the Morpurgo art dealership’s trading stock at the beginning of the occupation. According to the Applicant, NK 3 matches a commode recorded in the Morpurgo inventory book under inventory number 1191.
Declaration form
On 1 May 1946 Lion Morpurgo completed a declaration form about the missing commode and included a detailed drawing of it. The drawing closely resembles NK 3. Lion said that the commode dated from around 1765 and described it as a ‘mahogany L XV commode with a marble top with bronze decorations and fittings’ dimensions approximately 1.2 x 0.9 m. According to Lion the commode came into the possession of ‘Dr Rudolph, Lützowufer 13, Berlin’ as a result of confiscation. This refers to the German art dealer Dr Hans Walter Rudolph whose gallery was located at Lützowufer 13 in Berlin from 1936. It is known that Dr Rudolph maintained close contacts with the Amsterdam art market during the war. It is not stated on the declaration form when the commode supposedly came into the possession Dr Hans Walter Rudolph.
Recovery of NK 3
The present NK 3 was taken back to the Netherlands on 23 March 1948 from the Central Collecting Point in Munich. The inventory number assigned to the commode in Munich is written in blue chalk on the back of NK 3. According to the records of the allied recovery authorities, the Hague art dealer L. Jageneau was designated as the ‘presumed owner’ of the commode, and the commode was purchased from Jageneau on 26 December 1941 by the Münchener Kunsthandelsgesellschaft. Information about this transaction was also found on the Bernheimer list. This list was compiled after the war, and it refers to pieces – primarily furniture – that were acquired during the occupation by the Münchener Kunsthandelsgesellschaft (formerly the L. Bernheimer art dealership). The commode, the present NK 3, probably remained unsold until the end of the war because its location is given on the Bernheimer list as warehouse/depot.
Additional response from the Applicant
The Applicant compared the Morpurgo inventory book with the inventory drawn up by administrator Jansen and established that the commode, with the Morpurgo inventory number 1191, is not listed on the Jansen inventory. The Applicant commented on this as follows:
Focusing on commode no. 1191, I consider it perfectly possible, also given Jansen’s reputation as described in the investigation report, that Jansen sold this commode to Lambert Jageneau privately. That would explain why the name Morpurgo does not occur in the transactions, and nothing was found about the purchase of the commode NK 3 by Jageneau. Contact between the antiques dealers Jansen and Jageneau is plausible. The sale to Jageneau is also possible given its timing: Jansen started as administrator at Morpurgo in November 1941 and the sale by Jageneau to the Münchener Kunsthandelsgesellschaft was on 26 December 1941.
NK 35 – Three-drawer secretary desk
Information about the piece
NK 35 is a three-drawer secretary desk made from veneered walnut and burl with brass fittings, by an unknown maker, with dimensions 106 x 112 x 52 cm (h x b x d), dated c. 1880-1920.
Many desks of this type were produced, and fairly large numbers have survived. Replicas of this type of desk were made until well into the twentieth century. The lids of such desks are usually flat, but in some cases they can be gently curved. NK 35 was inspected on 28 February 2024 by the RCE. During the inspection the word ‘Wolf’ and the number ‘554’, both written in white chalk, were found on the back of the desk.
The Morpurgo desk
The Applicant identifies NK 35 as a piece of furniture that the Morpurgo art dealership purchased on 12 November 1940 in Heelsum. The applicant associates it with inventory number 1437 from the Morpurgo inventory book: ‘1 writing desk’. Research in the SNK archive into the identity of the vendor of the writing desk using the village ‘Heelsum’ did not yield any results.
The investigation did establish, however, that the firm of Joseph M. Morpurgo sold two items on 14 August 1942 to Joseph Fach in Frankfurt am Main. The transaction concerned: ‘1 Rosewood Cabinet’ and ‘1 Curved Walnut Burl Writing Desk’.
Declaration form
On 1 May 1946 Lion Morpurgo completed a declaration form about a writing desk. He said that it dated from around 1760 and described it as a ‘burl writing desk with a curved lid and drawers and carving on the plinth. Important example’. He included a drawing with the declaration form. According to Lion, the desk lost by the Morpurgo art dealership came into the possession of ‘Joseph Fach, Frankfurt A.M.’ as a result of confiscation. The description that Lion Morpurgo gave of the desk corresponds in several respects with NK 35 but also differs from it with regard to several striking points: NK 35 has a flat rather than a curved lid and is dated significantly later than 1760, namely 1880-1920.
Recovery of NK 35
The present NK 35 was returned to the Netherlands from Düsseldorf after the war. After the piece of furniture had arrived the SNK registered it under number ‘VM 75’. No information about the provenance of VM 75/NK 35 was found during the investigation by the Origins Unknown Agency (Bureau Herkomst Gezocht, BHG). The number ‘554’ written in white chalk on the back of NK 35 that was recently discovered resulted, however, in making it possible to unearth new provenance information.
An inventory card – a white card – was found in the SNK archive for M554, where M refers to the furniture category (meubels). The inventory number and information about each returned artwork were noted on white cards, for example data that was found on the back of a painting or on the frame, permanent labels, marks and such like. The number M554 was also found on an inventory of SNK furniture that was stored after the war at the firm of Van Hulst N.V. According to the information on the white card and the SNK declaration form with serial number 15425, the desk with number M554 was sold during the war to B. Meller of Krefeld by the Etienne Delaunoy art dealership of Amsterdam through ‘Pongs’ (referring to the German art dealer Carl Eugen Pongs of Düsseldorf). During the occupation the Delaunoy art dealership sold antiques and art worth large sums of money to German auction houses, museums and art galleries. Delaunoy also made purchases at auctions that certainly included Jewish property, such as items that had come from the looting organization Lippmann, Rosenthal & Co.
A list of items drawn up in 1946 by Carl Eugen Pongs of items that he had bought in the Netherlands during the war confirmed that on 1 July 1943 he had purchased ‘1 walnut cabinet, Dutch 18th century’ from Etienne Delaunoy and that he had sold it on to Dr Bruno Meller of Krefeld for 2,200 guilders. These data are also referred to in post-war correspondence between the Dutch and British authorities in the context of returning the present NK 35.
NK 180 – Wijnand Emens, Jug with relief frieze on the belly, shoulder and neck
Information about the item
NK 180 is a brown glazed stoneware jug with a relief frieze on the belly, shoulder and neck, by the maker Wijnand Emens, with dimensions 36.8 x 21.8 x 20.2 cm, dated 1598.
The style in which NK 180 was made is characteristic of the place where it was produced: Roeren, near Aachen in the Rhineland. These jugs were also called ‘Roeren stoneware’. Large numbers of jugs like this were produced and exported in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Many replicas were made in the nineteenth century. To this day, many such jugs are to be found in museums and on the market.
De Morpurgo jug
The Applicant identifies NK 180 as a stoneware jug that was purchased by the Morpurgo art dealership on 15 January 1925. According to the Applicant, NK 180 matches a jug recorded in the Morpurgo inventory book under inventory number 328. The Applicant stated the following regarding this item: ‘It is on the list of Morpurgo items with the Mühlmann Agency.’
During the occupation the Mühlmann Agency prepared a list of items that it had ‘secured’ from various art dealerships owned by Jewish business people. On this list there are 30 items and groups of items with a Morpurgo provenance, each with the corresponding inventory numbers from the Morpurgo inventory book. The Morpurgo jug is listed as:
138 German stoneware jug with warrior reliefs (No. 328)
A 1944 report about the activities of the Mühlmann Agency mentions the jug concerned was sold on 20 January 1943 to ‘Miss Kőnig, Munich’.
Declaration form
In November 1945 Lion Morpurgo completed a declaration form about a jug that had disappeared from his business. He included a drawing with the form. The jug was described on the declaration form as ‘brown majolica with depiction of soldiers and horsemen and relief on the belly of the jug’. Lion stated on the form that the item came into the possession of ‘Dr Kieslinger for the German Reich’. This is a reference to the Mühlmann Agency.
Besides the similarities, the description and the drawing of the lost jug contain major differences with the present NK 180. Lion gave c. 22 cm as one of the dimensions, which is smaller than NK 180. He reported ‘cracks in the neck’ as a detail. The most recent condition report about NK 180 makes no mention of this. There is no depiction of soldiers and horsemen in the relief of NK 180. The decoration of NK 180 comprises coats of arms in medallions and lions. Finally, NK 180 is clearly dated and the maker, Wynant Emens, is known. Lion Morpurgo mentioned no maker on the declaration form.
Recovery of NK 180
After the liberation the allies made an inventory of which items had been acquired by German museums during the occupation. A list was drawn up of the items acquired in the Netherlands during the war by the Hetjens-Museum der Kunstsammlungen in Düsseldorf, a museum specializing in ceramics including ‘Roeren stoneware’. A lot is described under the heading ‘Purchased at Rosenbaum in Amsterdam’ (‘1942 – 65 Renaissance – Jug. Roeren. Stoneware’) that supposedly was acquired in 1942 by the museum and has been identified by the Origins Unknown Agency as the present NK 180.
The present NK 180 was identified on the basis of this list as having been formerly owned in the Netherlands and was returned from Düsseldorf to the Netherlands on 14 August 1948.
NK 202 (A-B) – Two wall plates
Information about the items
NK 202 concerns two wall plates made of white clay decorated in blue with floral decoration, by an unknown maker, with dimensions 22.5 x 3 cm (diameter x h), dated 1750-1800.
The Morpurgo plates
The Applicant identifies NK 202 as a pair of plates that was purchased in 1929 by the Morpurgo art dealership and belonged in the Morpurgo art dealership’s trading stock at the beginning of the occupation. According to the Applicant, NK 202 matches two plates recorded in the Morpurgo inventory book under inventory number 93. These plates were allegedly sold in January 1942 to the Lempertz auction house in Cologne. The Applicant submitted a sales invoice to underpin this. It is stated on this invoice, which is dated 15 January 1942, that it was acquired by Josef Hanstein, the owner of the Lempertz art dealership and auction house in Cologne ‘No. 93 – 2 blue Delft plates’.
Declaration form
On 1 May 1946 Lion Morpurgo completed a declaration form about ‘2 blue Delft plates’ with a diameter of c. 30 cm dated around 1760. Lion stated that the plates were originally in the possession of the ‘firm of Joseph M. Morpurgo Rokin 108 Amsterdam’ and that they came into the possession of ‘Mr Joseph Hanstein (Lempertz) Cologne’ as a result of confiscation. He wrote the following explanatory note: ‘The sale was conducted on 15 January 42 by administrators without permission from the owner’.
Purchases by Lempertz in the Netherlands
A list was found in the SNK archive of items acquired by Lempertz in the Netherlands between 1941 and 1944. This list was compiled after the war by Josef Hanstein and concerns items that were still at Lempertz at the moment that the list was drawn up. Hanstein stated in 1946 with regard to this list that he could not say with certainty from which art dealers he had purchased his trading stock during the war because his business records had been destroyed. The name of Morpurgo is not on the Lempertz list as a vendor. No Lempertz numbers (inventory numbers applied by the auction house) were found on the undersides of the plates with inventory number NK 202.
Recovery of NK 202
A consignment of ceramics was transported by road on 10 July 1948 from Düsseldorf to the SNK in Amsterdam. According to internal SNK information the consignment contained two wall plates, which were later to be given the inventory number ‘202’. The consignment was of items that originally had been in the possession of ‘Various different firms in Holland’ and had been purchased by ‘Dr Albert Steegr, Kaiserstrasse 5, Kempen’. In all probability this refers to Dr Albert Steeger, who was director of the Heimathaus des Niederrheins in Krefeld during the war. Dr Steeger lived in Kempen during the war.
It is known that Steeger visited Dutch antiques dealers several times between 1933 and 1944 to make purchases, usually paid for by the city of Krefeld. This was confirmed by Museum Burg Linn in Krefeld. This museum has the complete inventory books of Steeger’s purchases on behalf of the Heimathaus des Niederrheins between 1930 and 1950. It emerges from them that between 1933 and 1944 Steeger acquired large quantities of antiques, paintings and books in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. The museum is currently investigating these purchases. The inventory books contain a column in which the supplier of the items is noted. The names of a number of Dutch art dealers occur regularly. The museum’s investigation has so far not come across the name Morpurgo.
NK 276 (A1-2 and B1-2) and NK 277 (A-B) – Three Chinese glazed porcelain covered vases
NK 276 and NK 277 have identical provenances. The investigation results and information concerning these items are therefore presented together.
Information about the items
NK 276 and NK 277 concern three Chinese glazed porcelain covered vases with blue and white decorations of landscapes and flowers, by an unknown maker, with dimensions 51.5 x 16.5 cm (NK 276 A-B) and 50.5 x 15 cm (NK 277 A-B), dated first quarter of the eighteenth century.
The Morpurgo vases
The Applicant identifies the vases with inventory numbers NK 276 and NK 277 as items that were purchased on 3 September 1929 by the Morpurgo art dealership and belonged in the Morpurgo art dealership’s trading stock at the beginning of the occupation. According to the Applicant, NK 276 and NK 277 match part of the cupboard set of vases recorded in the Morpurgo inventory book under inventory number 218.
Declaration form
On 1 May 1946 Lion Morpurgo completed a declaration about a: ‘large five-piece porcelain Chinese cupboard set of vases (blue) Kang-Hi [sic] decorated with landscapes and flowers. 1 cup defective’. He included a drawing he had made with the declaration form. The cupboard set supposedly came into the possession of ‘Mr Paffrath Düsseldorf’ as a result of confiscation. On 27 May 1946 the SNK completed an internal declaration form on the basis of information provided by Lion Morpurgo. It was given the serial number 11091.
Recovery of NK 276 and NK 277
The items with the inventory numbers NK 276 and NK 277 were returned to the Netherlands from Düsseldorf after the war. A manifest of recovered goods was found in the SNK archive. On it there are entries about:
Cer.45/Por.Düss.179/180 2 covered vases, blue decoration with landscapes Kang Hsi, h. 52 ½
Cer. 46/Por.Düss.181 Covered vase, Kang Hsi, h. 50, blue decoration with landscapes
The SNK wrote the number ‘11091’ by hand after the aforementioned entries on the manifest. This reveals that the SNK identified the vases returned from Düsseldorf as the vases that according to Lion Morpurgo ended up with Paffrath of Düsseldorf after they had been confiscated.
NK 309 (A-C) – Three painted decorative plates
Information about the items
NK 309 concerns three colourfully painted decorative plates, by an unknown maker (probably Delft), dated the second half of the eighteenth century. The flat parts of the plates feature a landscape full of flowers in the colours blue, yellow, red, green and manganese. The rims of the plates are decorated with stylized flowers and leaves.
Several examples of such plates are known with the same decorative painting, for example in the collections of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London (inv. no. C. 98-1965) and The Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge (inv. nos. C.1477A-1928 and C.1477B-1928). The plates concerned have the same dating and attribution as NK 309 (A-C) and are known in the aforementioned museums as English Delftware.
The Morpurgo plates
The Applicant identifies the decorative plates with inventory number NK 309 as plates that were purchased in October 1929 by the Morpurgo art dealership and belonged in the art dealership’s trading stock at the beginning of the occupation. According to the Applicant, NK 309 matches items recorded in the Morpurgo inventory book under inventory number 90.
Declaration form
On 1 May 1946 Lion Morpurgo completed a declaration form about ‘3 blue Delft plates’ with a diameter of c. 30 cm dated around 1760. He stated that the plates were originally in the possession of the ‘firm of Joseph M. Morpurgo Rokin 108 Amsterdam’ and that they came into the possession of ‘Mr Joseph Hanstein (Lempertz) Cologne’ on 15 January 1942 as a result of confiscation. No drawing was included with the declaration form. The description provided by Lion Morpurgo differs from the present NK 309 in one striking regard. The NK plates are not blue but multicoloured.
Recovery of NK 309 (A-C)
The three decorative plates with the inventory numbers NK 309 A-C were returned to the Netherlands from Düsseldorf after the war. The number ‘L3312’ was applied to the underside of the plates; a Lempertz number. The following is written next to number ‘3312’: ‘3 Delft plates, colourful’ on the aforementioned post-war list of items that Hanstein still had in his possession after the war and that were acquired in the Netherlands between 1941 and 1944, Josef Hanstein stated after that war that he could no longer remember where he had bought the plates.
Another number was also applied to the underside of the plates: ‘3025/42’. This is a Liro number that was applied by the German looting organization Lippmann, Rosenthal & Co., Sarphatistraat (Liro) on seized or surrendered Jewish property. On the same Liro list there is also a list of people who surrendered possessions to Liro. The entry next to the number concerned reads: ‘Citroen, Kalverstr. Amsterdam’. This is a reference to the firm of Roelof Citroen, a jewellers located at Kalverstraat 1 in Amsterdam that had been founded in 1859 by Roelof Citroen. His grandson, Abraham Citroen, lived with his family at Kalverstraat 1 during part of the war It is known that Lempertz purchased items from Liro during the occupation.
NK 445 (A-B) – Two decorated Empire vases with gilded ornaments
Information about the items
NK 445 concerns two porcelain vases with polychrome decoration, both on a square base. Both vases have two standing ears with gilded Empire ornaments ending in a ram’s head. The necks are decorated with crowned and winged female heads. The bases are both decorated on all four sides with oval fields, three of which per base are painted with landscapes and one with playing amorini. The bellies of the vases are painted on one side with scenes from the myth of Cupid and Psyche and on the other side with a landscape. These paintings extend over the entire belly of both vases. NK 445 comprises two vases. The dimensions of one of the vases (NK 445 A) are: 62.2 x 27 x 19.3 cm, while those of the other vase (NK 445 B) are: 61.6 x 27.5 x 19 cm. The dating is c. 1830. The only marks that have been applied to the vases are the present NK numbers.
Such porcelain vases, gilded and with painted images, were widely produced in France at the end of the eighteenth/beginning of the nineteenth century and were almost always made in editions. Mythological scenes were not uncommon. In response to questions, a porcelain expert said that the provenance of such vases is difficult to determine unless the vases were made to order, in which case they would have been provided with markings that could be traced back to the client. The depictions on the NK 445 vases, combined with the ram’s heads in the ears, make these vases relatively easy to recognize. According to the expert, however, it is difficult to say whether these are unique items.
The Morpurgo Empire vases
The Applicant identifies NK 445 as vases that were purchased on 20 August 1937 from J. Wolff of Amsterdam and belonged in the Morpurgo art dealership’s trading stock at the beginning of the occupation. According to the Applicant, NK 445 with two Empire vases matches items recorded in the Morpurgo inventory book under inventory number 1222. According to a Morpurgo art dealership sales invoice submitted by the Applicant, the vases were sold on 20 February 1942 to O.A. von Bolschwing of Vienna. Otto von Bolschwing was a German SS captain who during the war worked for the security service and was an advisor of Adolf Eichmann for a time. The vases are described on the invoice as ‘2 Golden Vases (Empire Porcelain)’. The invoice was signed in pencil thus: ‘Paid 15/12/’41 Cash’. The investigation did not provide an answer to the question of why there was a discrepancy between the invoice date and the date of payment in cash noted in pencil.
Declaration form
After the war Lion Morpurgo completed a declaration form for ‘2 Empire porcelain gilded vases with coloured mythological scenes’. According to this form, the vases were approximately 50 cm high and had come into the possession of ‘O.A. von Bolschwing, Wipplingerstr. 32, Vienna I’ as a result of confiscation on 20 February 1942. A drawing of the vases made by Lion Morpurgo from memory accompanied the form. The description of the vases he gave and his drawing display similarities with the present NK 445, but there are also several striking differences. The height of the vases stated by Lion Morpurgo differs by about 12 cm from that of NK 445. The characteristic square base of the vases, which have equally characteristic oval fields with images of landscapes and amorini, are furthermore not in the drawing. Finally, Lion Morpurgo drew the vase he had lost with a small image in a rectangular frame in the centre of the vase’s belly. NK 445 has images that extend over the whole of the vases’ bellies.
After the war, the Dutch government asked the American army in Austria to restitute two porcelain vases that had been purchased in the Netherlands during the war by ‘O.A.A. von Bolschwing of Salzburg’. In regard to this there was a discussion with Von Bolschwing on 24 August 1949. Von Bolschwing stated that he had bought two porcelain vases in August or September 1941 at a sale in The Hague. He stated that the vases had been cobalt blue with gilded decorative handles and that there had been a small painting on the front of the vases, in the centre. Von Bolschwing stated that he had had the vases sent to Vienna, where they arrived broken. He had thrown the vases away. The name ‘Morpurgo’ was not found in the documentation drawn up following Von Boschwing’s statement.
Recovery of NK 445 (A-B)
The vases that are now registered under inventory numbers NK 445 A-B were returned to the Netherlands from Düsseldorf on 16 January 1948. It is stated on the SNK internal declaration from about NK 445 that the two vases were originally in the possession of ‘Etienne Delaunoy, Amsterdam’ and came into the possession of ‘Dr K.G. Linsenmeyer, Düsseldorf, Hindenburgwall’ as a result of a voluntary sale. No references to Austria, Von Bolschwing or Morpurgo were found in the archival documents and documentation that were consulted with regard to the present NK 445.
Additional response from the Applicant
During the hearing the Applicant argued that NK 445 and Morpurgo inventory number 1222 related to the same vases. He stressed that his grandfather had needed to reproduce from memory the vases he had lost without documentation in the drawing accompanying the SNK declaration form after a difficult period of a few years in a concentration camp. The Applicant asserted that the square foot of the vases with painted scenes was the only thing missing in the detailed drawing. Otherwise, according to the applicant, the description and drawing of the lost vases match NK 445. The Applicant has furthermore commented that the fact his grandfather drew the vases without feet explains the difference in height.
The Applicant notes the following with regard to the naming of Von Bolschwing on the invoice as the buyer of the vases:
I have studied the sales invoice dated 20.02.42 from – in pencil – Morpurgo to O.A. von Bolschwing I gather from the pencilled note ‘Paid in cash 15/12/’41’ that payment was made in cash in December 1941, possibly by someone other than Von Bolschwing, who was in Vienna, and that an invoice was drawn up later. I consider it perfectly possible that antiques dealer Etienne Delaunoy – Rokin 118 in Amsterdam – was the buyer of inventory number 1222 from administrator Jansen – Rokin 108 – in December 1941, and that Delaunoy sold the vases on to a customer in Germany. And that the vases with inventory number 1222 were recovered after the Second World War as NK 445.
NK 481 (A-B) – Carafe (‘hunting flask’) with stopper
Information about the item
K 481 is a glass carafe with stopper in the shape of a Kuttrolf, painted in brown with a boar hunt, Hausmalerei (painted in a small workshop), by an unknown maker, with dimensions 28 x 11.5 cm, dated nineteenth century.
The Morpurgo hunting flask
The Applicant notes the following about NK 481: ‘I have not been able to trace NK 481 in the purchase and sales ledger – it might have been a private item belonging to my great-grandfather’.
An item that matches the present NK 481, under number ‘1942/3026’, is on a list of purchases by St. Anne’s Museum in Lübeck with the heading ‘Bought from Dutch traders in works of art’. The list was probably drawn up after the war on the basis of the museum’s records. The entry reads:
MORPURGO, AMSTERDAM
1942/3026 Bottle of glass with hunting scenes
The same item is on the Koblenz list, which is an inventory of recovered goods that was compiled after the war by the German authorities. The entry reads: ‘1942 from Morpurgo for RM 250 … to St. Annes Museum Lübeck … to German name E. Lübeck … Letter dated 4.12.1956’.
Declaration form
After the war Lion Morpurgo completed a declaration form for ‘a hunting flask’. Lion stated that the hunting flask was originally in the possession of the ‘firm of Joseph M. Morpurgo // Rokin 108 Amsterdam’ and that the item came into the possession of the ‘St. Anne’s Museum // Professor Schrőder Lübeck’.as a result of confiscation. He added ‘according to receipt of 20 Oct 1942’ under the heading ‘Note’
Recovery of NK 481 (A-B)
The present NK 481 was returned to the Netherlands from Lübeck on 21 January 1947. The hunting flask’s white card has the handwritten number ‘1942-3026’ on it. Het number ‘3026’ written in red letters is legible on the underside of the present NK 481.
NK 485 – Light green glass bottle
Information about the item
NK 485 is a light green glass bottle with a compressed spherical body, an inverted base and a short, wide, cylindrical neck, by an unknown maker, measuring 18.5 x 6.5 cm and dated c. 1760.
The shape of this bottle is typical of wine bottles/carafes from the seventeenth/eighteenth century and is also called a ‘Dutch onion’. Many of these bottles do not have a greenish tint, like NK 485, but are dark green in colour.
The Morpurgo bottle
The Applicant identifies NK 485 as a bottle that was purchased on 13 May 1929 by the Morpurgo art dealership from ‘Mr Brinkman’ and belonged in the Morpurgo art dealership’s trading stock at the beginning of the occupation. According to the Applicant, NK 485 matches a bottle recorded in the Morpurgo inventory book under inventory number 456.
Declaration form
On 1 May 1946 Lion Morpurgo completed a declaration form about ‘2 green glass wine bottles (carafes)’, dated around 1700. On the form he stated that the bottles had come into the possession of ‘Dr Valentin, Kőnigsbau Stuttgart’ on 11 December 1941 as a result of confiscation. ‘Dr Valentin’ refers to the German art dealer Fritz C. Valentien, owner of the Valentien gallery in Stuttgart. His name is spelt ‘Valentin’ or ‘Valentien’ It emerged from the investigation that Valentien acquired several items from the Morpurgo art dealership during the occupation.
An inventory was found in the SNK archive with the heading ‘INVENTORY made on 18th November at the home of Mr. VALENTIN’. The document reveals that the list was compiled over a period of several days in 1947 by the allied recovery authorities. The inventory contains various objects that were purchased by Valentien from Morpurgo during the occupation. The two green bottles that, according to Lion Morpurgo, were confiscated during the war and supposedly sold to Valentien do not appear on this list.
It is stated on the SNK internal declaration form of 1 July 1946 about the present NK 485 that the item was originally in the possession of ‘L. Jageneau, Antiques dealer, Noordeinde 156, The Hague’ and that the bottle came into the possession of ‘Professor H. Schrőder, St. Anne’s Museum, Lübeck’ as a result of a forced sale. The bottle’s white card has the handwritten number ‘1942-132’ on it noted under the heading ‘Description of pictureframe, labels or stamps on the back’. This number matches an entry on the aforementioned Lübeck museum’s list entitled ‘Bought from Dutch traders in works of art’. The entry reads:
JAGENAU, THE HAGUE
1944/132 bottle of green glass (medicine glass)
Recovery of NK 485
The present NK 485 was returned to the Netherlands from Lübeck on 21 January 1947. No references to the name ‘Morpurgo’ were found in the documentation relating to the present NK 485.
NK 486 – Brass bowl, chased and engraved decoration
Information about the item
NK 486 is a brass bowl with chased and engraved decoration, by an unknown maker, with dimensions 8 x 29 cm, dated sixteenth century. There are three clearly visible perforations in the rim of NK 486.
Such chased bowls are also called baptismal bowls, offering bowls or alms bowls. Thousands of them were made, all very similar. Such dishes are still very common on today’s antiques market.
The Morpurgo brass bowl
The Applicant identifies NK 486 as a bowl that was purchased in 1933 by the Morpurgo art dealership and belonged in the Morpurgo art dealership’s trading stock at the beginning of the occupation. According to the Applicant, NK 486 matches a bowl recorded in the Morpurgo inventory book under inventory number 657.
Declaration form
On 1 May 1946 Lion Morpurgo completed a declaration form about a ‘brass chased bowl’ dated c. 1650, with a diameter of approximately 40 cm. He included a drawing with the form. Lion Morpurgo stated that the bowl came into the possession of ‘Mr Ed von Imhof, Franz Joseph Kai 37 Vienna’ as a result of confiscation. The drawing of the lost bowl by Lion Morpurgo looks very much like NK 486.
The investigation revealed that the aforementioned reference to ‘Imhof’ is about the Viennese Eduard Imhof von Geisslinghof, who was active in the antiques trade and visited the Netherlands during the occupation. Seventeen declaration forms were found in the SNK archive that refer to Imhof. Fourteen of them concern voluntary sales by the antiques dealer Etienne Delaunoy, and three are about purchases from the Morpurgo art dealership (all of which Lion Morpurgo himself qualified as ‘confiscation’). With one exception, there is a handwritten note ‘probably burned’ on all the internal declaration forms that refer to Imhof. This note is also on the form concerning the ‘brass chased bowl’ that ceased being in the possession of the Morpurgo art dealership. The probable explanation for this emerges from the SNK file about the recovery of items from Austria. It states the following about Imhof: ‘Difficult case, Von Imhoff says he sold everything. It’s still under investigation’ and ‘Goods likely destroyed. Von Imhoff must provide a statement confirming that the goods were actually burned’.
Recovery of NK 486
The present NK 486 was returned to the Netherlands from Lübeck after the war. Recent research carried out by the RCE into items in the NK Collection has revealed that St. Anne’s Museum in Lübeck bought a bowl in 1942 from ‘Jansen’ in Amsterdam. This emerged from the museum’s historical inventory book. The number ‘1942-834’ can be read on the underside of the present NK 486. This number refers to the St. Anne’s Museum’s inventory number. There is the following entry on the list of items acquired in the Netherlands during the war by St. Anne’s Museum alongside inventory number 1942/834: ‘1 brass basin, purchased from Jansen, Amsterdam’. There are several brass bowls and dishes among the items that St. Anne’s Museum acquired during the war. They came from various Dutch art dealers, which hinders identification. The investigation did not reveal where Jansen might have acquired the bowl concerned and/or from which trading stock it came.
Additional response from the Applicant
During the hearing the Applicant argued that NK 486 and the dish with Morpurgo inventory number 657 relate to the same brass bowl. In this context the Applicant contends that St. Anne’s Museum in Lübeck could have bought two antiques from Jansen on 20 October 1942, both of which, according to the Applicant, can be traced back to the Morpurgo trading stock. This concerns a renaissance sculpture cabinet with Morpurgo inventory number 1537, which is not a part of the present restitution application, and a glass carafe with stopper in the shape of a Kuttrolf, which the Applicant has linked to NK 481 (see above). It is stated on the declaration forms that Morpurgo completed with regard to these two items that they came into the possession of ‘St. Anne’s Museum // Professor Schrőder, Lübeck’ as a result of confiscation. Lion Morpurgo added ‘according to receipt of 20 Oct 1942’ under the heading ‘Note’ The Applicant commented on this as follows:
‘Three purchases by the same museum in the same year from Jansen – the first two from Morpurgo’s stock – make it likely that the third purchase – NK486 – also came from Morpurgo. This is all the more so because an earlier claim by Mossel – for whom Jansen was also administrator – to NK 486 was rejected (RC 1.51)’.
NK 520 (A-B) – Two wall plates
Information about the items
NK 520 concerns two wall plates with blue decoration on the flat depicting a man and woman in a landscape. On the rim there are stylized flowers and medallions with thick and thin tendrils, by an unknown maker, dimensions 23 x 3 cm, dating unknown.
The Morpurgo wall plates
The Applicant identifies NK 520 as items that were purchased on 14 August 1919 by the Morpurgo art dealership and belonged in the Morpurgo art dealership’s trading stock at the beginning of the occupation. According to the Applicant, NK 520 with two wall plates matches the items recorded in the Morpurgo inventory book under inventory number 120.
Declaration form
On 1 May 1946 Lion Morpurgo completed a declaration form about ‘2 blue Delft plates’ with a diameter of c. 30 cm. The plates allegedly came into the possession of ‘Mr Joseph Hanstein (Lempertz), Cologne’ as a result of confiscation. Lion stated the date ’15 Jan 42’ as a note. At an unknown moment the following note was added in pencil: ’sale by administrator took place without permission from the owner’. After Lion Morpurgo had submitted the form, an SNK employee added various comments and made various crossings out in red pencil, in all probability in the context of the further processing of the information for the purposes of SNK’s execution of its tasks. The changes included the qualification ‘confiscation’ stated by Morpurgo being crossed out. A note was added to the form that it concerned a voluntary sale.
Lempertz
No Lempertz numbers were found on the undersides of the plates with inventory number NK 520. Twelve Dutch vendors are named on the list of items acquired by Lempertz in the Netherlands between 1941 and 1944, and that were found to still be in Lempertz’s possession after the war. The Morpurgo art dealership is not among them. Joseph Hanstein stated on 30 June 1946 in this regard that he could not say with certainty from which art dealers he had purchased his trading stock during the war because his business records had been destroyed as a result of a major fire on 29 June 1943 and a direct hit on his art dealership on 3 March 1945.
Recovery of NK 520 (A-B)
The present NK 520 was returned to the Netherlands from Munich on 12 July 1948. The accompanying shipping manifest reveals that the plates had been given the inventory number ‘35323/20’ in the Central Collecting Point in Munich. The inventory card associated with this number states that it concerned five porcelain Chinese plates. It is noted on the back of the card that the plates were purchased by ‘Weinmüller’ from an art dealer in the Netherlands in 1942 or 1943. This probably refers to the German art dealer and auctioneer Adolf Weinmüller of Munich. According to a statement of 14 January 1948 by Weinmüller’s spouse, the plates came from an unknown owner in the Netherlands. Archival research did not reveal from whom Weinmüller had bought the plates. A photograph accompanying the aforementioned Munich number 35323/20 shows the different plates in the set of five. One of the plates in the photograph can be linked to the present NK 520.
NK 927 (A-G) – Set of porcelain bowls with saucers
Information about the items
NK 927 concerns bowls with saucers, porcelain, glaze, blue and white decoration with a floral motif on the outside of the bowl and a leaf motif on the inner rim and bottom of the bowl. The top of the bowl has a floral motif and the underside has a detail of the floral motif. The maker is unknown. Dimensions: 7 x 11 cm. Dating c. 1700-1725.
NK 927 comprises several items: six cups with saucers (NK 927-A1-2 to F1-2) and a separate saucer (NK 927-G2). Three saucers (NK 927-G1, G3 and G4) of this set are currently missing from this ensemble, but according to the RCE they have not been totally lost.
One of the pieces of NK 927 (G2) has a two-character mark. The other saucers that are part of NK 927 do not have comparable marks. Two ceramics experts consulted by the ECR explained that marks on European ceramics normally comprise four or six characters. On the underside of the cups that are part of NK 927 there is another sort of single mark that is different for each cup. A number of the NK 927 items are damaged. It is not known when the damage was done.
The Morpurgo cups and saucers
The Applicant identifies NK 927 as cups and saucers that the Morpurgo art dealership bought in May 1935 at the Frederik Muller auction house in Amsterdam and belonged in the Morpurgo art dealership’s trading stock at the beginning of the occupation. According to the Morpurgo art dealership’s cash book, a number of purchases were made at Frederik Muller in May 1935, including a few dozen porcelain cups and saucers that were registered in the Morpurgo inventory book under inventory numbers 1020 to 1023. According to the Applicant, NK 927 matches items recorded in the Morpurgo inventory book under inventory number 1020.
Declaration form
On 1 May 1946 Lion Morpurgo completed a declaration form concerning: ’18 pairs of blue China porcelain cups and saucers with a rosary pattern’. He also stated: ‘4 marks Kang Shi c. 1690’. Under particulars he noted: ’18 pairs in good condition’. According to Lion the saucers had a diameter of 11.5 cm. According to Lion, the cups and saucers came into the possession of F. Leinung, of the German border village of Elten, on 13 April 1942 as a result of confiscation. The declaration form was accompanied by a detailed drawing.
On 2 August 1946 an SNK employee sent a letter to Lion Morpurgo asking for a further address because the village of Elten was not known to the SNK, and consequently they did not know where to look. It is not known whether Morpurgo responded to the letter and/or whether the SNK continued to search for the 18 cups and saucers. As far as we know, the SNK did not link the declaration form completed by Lion Morpurgo and the present NK 927.
The investigation revealed that ‘F. Leinung’ is probably a reference to Friedrich Eberhard Johannes Leinung, who was born on 11 May 1902 in Emmerik, Germany and who lived in Elten during the war. Leinung was a forwarding agent. He owned a firm in Emmerik and in 1927 he opened a branch in Lobith in the Netherlands called the NV Expeditie Onderneming Friedrich Leinung. Archival research did not unearth any information about Leinung’s business contacts and/or art purchases in the Netherlands during the occupation.
After the war
No information is known about the provenance of the present NK 927. It is also unknown from where the cups and saucers were returned to the Netherlands. The cups and saucers were exhibited by the SNK in 1950 in a claim exhibition of recovered goods. The cups and saucers turned out to be very common everyday items and were recognized by several people as stolen former property. This presented the SNK with a dilemma and those who believed they recognized the objects with an impossible task in proving ownership.
NK 2946 – Oak sculpture cabinet
Information about the piece
NK 2946 is an oak sculpture cabinet with inlays of ebony and rosewood, by an unknown maker, dated the first half of the seventeenth century. The sculpture cabinet is referred to as a Zeeland cabinet and there are many of them in circulation. This type of cabinet is characteristic of seventeenth-century Zeeland/Antwerp, and it is not a unique example.
The Morpurgo cabinet
The Applicant identifies NK 2946 as a cabinet that was supposedly purchased in December 1940 by the Morpurgo art dealership at an unknown sale in The Hague from a seller who is also unknown. According to the Applicant, NK 2946 matches an ‘oak cabinet’ recorded in the Morpurgo inventory book under inventory number 1455. The Applicant furthermore stated: ‘It is on the list of Morpurgo items with the Mühlmann Agency.’
The following cabinet is number 151 on the list of items seized from Dutch art dealers by the Mühlmann Agency: ‘Half-height oak cabinet, carved. Dutch around 1650 (No.1455)’. The latter number matches the inventory number in the Morpurgo inventory book.
The Morpurgo cabinet with inventory number 1455 then ended up in Prague. This emerges from a 1944 report about the activities of the Mühlmann Agency. It contains the statement that the Morpurgo cabinet was sold on 12 August 1942 to ‘Roderich Pschikril, Prague’.
Declaration form
In November 1945 Lion Morpurgo completed a declaration form concerning an ‘Oak credenza with 4 doors: 2 large ones at the bottom and 2 small ones at the top, decorated with sculptural work on the posts, corners, and mouldings. On (2 ball feet?) plenty of moulding on the doors. With plain and rosewood.’ He enclosed a detailed drawing of the cabinet with his declaration form. The cabinet that Lion drew resembles the current NK 2946, which does not have two but three upper compartments.
Recovery of NK 2946
The present NK 2946 was taken back to the Netherlands from the Central Collecting Point in Munich. The SNK internal declaration form filled in for the recovered cabinet states that the piece of furniture was originally in the possession of F. Mannheimer of Amsterdam and as regards the acquisition it reports that it was: ‘Sold under compulsion to the Mühlmann Agency, The Hague’. Photographs of the interior of Fritz Mannheimer’s home in Amsterdam have survived. The present NK 2946 is recognizable on them.
