A RARE PAIR OF PRESSED HORN RELIEF PORTRAITS BY JOHN OSBORN

A RARE PAIR OF PRESSED HORN RELIEF PORTRAITS BY JOHN OSBORN (1581/4-1634) DATED 1626 Depicting Henry, Prince of Orange, and Princess Amelia of Orange in profile- opposing each other, reverse with raised title and inscriptions 'FRED. HENRICUS. D.G. PRINCEPS AVRIACÆ COMES NASSOVIA ETC. JOH OSBORN. ANGL AMSTEROD. FECIT 1626' and 'AMALIA D.G PRINCEPS AVRIACÆ ETC 1626 JOH OSBORN ANGL AMSTEROD FECIT 1626', ebonised frames, trace of old printed label to reverse the horn panels approximately 15cm high, the frames 20cm high Provenance: Private Collection Literature: L. Forrer, Biographical dictionary of medallists; coin, gem, and seal-engravers, mint-masters, ancient and modern, with references to their works B.C. 500-A.D. 1900, London 1904. These rare portraits were made by the Worcestershire born leather, whalebone and horn craftsman John Osborn. After 20 or so years in England he emigrated to Amsterdam where he plied his trade producing tokens, medallions and portraits such as these. Given the fragile nature few seem to have survived. However a comparable pair of portraits from the same date are held in the British Museum Collections (OA-4594 & 1889-0706-1).In Forer's biography the British Museum pair are described: The busts of Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange, and his wife Amelia seem to have been executed by John Osborn expressly for impressing horn. They are also found in bronze and lead, but both materials show traces of being cast from originals in horn, and not struck directly from the die. They are evidently the work of a practised hand, both as portraits and as examples of medallic art, and they can fairly take rank with the many grand portraits by Dutch artists of the same period.