The engraver Friedrich Edel was active in 1690, providing copper plates for the owners of publishing houses in Danzig and Thorn: David Friedrich Rhet, Johann Christian Laurer, and Samuel Genter. Only five works signed by him have been identified. The earliest one is an engraving attached to a description of fireworks thrown by the city council of Danzig in 1691 on the occasion of the wedding of prince James Louis Sobieski with Hedwig Elisabeth Amelia of Neuburg. In the next years the engravings executed by Edel appeared in occasional prints, religious books, both Catholic and Protestant, and a Polish-language edition of works by Lucius Annaeus Seneca. One of the most interesting prints is the title page of a religious songbook dated around 1700. Besides scenes from the New Testament, it contains a view of Thorn, which was hitherto unknown to the researchers.
Until now no attempts to identify even the basic facts form the biography of the maker of the presented engravings have been made. It is, however, known that a craftsman named Friedrich Edel was noted in Danzig. He was a son and pupil of Hieronymus Edel, a master goldsmith in Danzig in 1628–1681. After the death of his father, in 1628 Friedrich gained citizenship as a goldsmith and became a master in the guild. The last reference to him in the guild documents is dated 1691: by that time he had not been active as a goldsmith for six years, thus got expelled from the organization and became regarded as a botcher.
Engravings used by goldsmiths to decorate their works are close to techniques used by printmakers. It was one of the basic abilities of a skilled goldsmith, often tested during the master’s exam. In early-modern Europe numerous goldsmiths were also active as engravers, among them such eminent masters as Wentzel Jamnitzer of Nuremberg and Carl Pfister of Breslau. What is more, in some guilds (Nuremberg, Cluj-Napoca) newly promoted masters executed small-sized engravings, most often with ornamental compositions. Taking all these facts into consideration, the engraver Friedrich Edel seems to be the same person as the goldsmith of the same name.The engraver Friedrich Edel was active in 1690, providing copper plates for the owners of publishing houses in Danzig and Thorn: David Friedrich Rhet, Johann Christian Laurer, and Samuel Genter. Only five works signed by him have been identified. The earliest one is an engraving attached to a description of fireworks thrown by the city council of Danzig in 1691 on the occasion of the wedding of prince James Louis Sobieski with Hedwig Elisabeth Amelia of Neuburg. In the next years the engravings executed by Edel appeared in occasional prints, religious books, both Catholic and Protestant, and a Polish-language edition of works by Lucius Annaeus Seneca. One of the most interesting prints is the title page of a religious songbook dated around 1700. Besides scenes from the New Testament, it contains a view of Thorn, which was hitherto unknown to the researchers.
Until now no attempts to identify even the basic facts form the biography of the maker of the presented engravings have been made. It is, however, known that a craftsman named Friedrich Edel was noted in Danzig. He was a son and pupil of Hieronymus Edel, a master goldsmith in Danzig in 1628–1681. After the death of his father, in 1628 Friedrich gained citizenship as a goldsmith and became a master in the guild. The last reference to him in the guild documents is dated 1691: by that time he had not been active as a goldsmith for six years, thus got expelled from the organization and became regarded as a botcher.
Engravings used by goldsmiths to decorate their works are close to techniques used by printmakers. It was one of the basic abilities of a skilled goldsmith, often tested during the master’s exam. In early-modern Europe numerous goldsmiths were also active as engravers, among them such eminent masters as Wentzel Jamnitzer of Nuremberg and Carl Pfister of Breslau. What is more, in some guilds (Nuremberg, Cluj-Napoca) newly promoted masters executed small-sized engravings, most often with ornamental compositions. Taking all these facts into consideration, the engraver Friedrich Edel seems to be the same person as the goldsmith of the same name
