Schön Neues Modelbuch

Schön Neues Modelbuch

Johann Sibmacher

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Designed by Johann Sibmacher, German, active 1590-1611, published by Caimox, Nürmberg. Illustrated title signed CM and Jo. Sibmacher, 7 pages of text surrounded by decorative borders, and 35 pages of designs for weaving, embroidery, and cut-linen. According to Lotz two editions appeared of which this is the second. The first edition appeared in 1597, but with 8 pages of squared rulings. This is the first copper plate German pattern book. Note that Sibmacher has signed the title. In the left corner, however, the monogram CM is close to that of Christoph Murer reproduced in Nagler monog. II.146.393. Comparision with the title of Jobin's book (L.27) shows that the title of this book is based on Jobin's woodcut one. Lotz discusses Jobin's title on p. 80 of the "Bibliographis". It had been attributed to Murer but Lotz disagrees and says that it is in the style of Tobias Stimmer. 39 leaves, plates numbered 1-35 (should have 40 leaves). The last page of the poem is missing (supplied from Berlin copy). Sibmacher apparently composed it and he tells in it that he invented the patterns. See additional notes at back of book. Bound in white vellum.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.