Buchinger, Matthias | A self-portrait by Buchinger on his last known drawing

Buchinger, Matthias
Fine autograph calligraphic coat of arms of the Reverend Robert Clayton Lord Bishop, Cork, with a self-portrait of Buchinger, signed twice in the third person ("Matthew Buchinger"; "Himself")

Manuscript on vellum (218 x 197 mm), Cork, 1738; a little fingersoiling, a couple of short marginal cuts or tears, a longer one at lower margin extending into caption, Tipped to an old mat board and matted.

This coat of arms is the last known calligraphic drawing made by Buchinger; it is, moreover, evidently the final item obtained by Ricky Jay for his extraordinary collection of the the creations of "The Little Man of Nuremberg"—a quest that spanned nearly four decades.

In Matthias Buchinger: "The Greatest German Living," Jay recounts that Buchinger drafted a will in 1737, that, due to his evident ill health, bore no evidence of his remarkable skill in penmanship. However, Jay continues, "Buchinger likely had a substantial recovery, as I have seen impressive samples dated Dublin 1737, and a beautiful document for the coat of arms and crests of Robert Clayton, Bishop of Cork, done even later. Within an ornamental border, Buchinger drew a bishop's mitre on the left, and an arm wielding a sword on the right, over the motto Manus haec inimica tyrannis (this hand is hostile to tyrants). Buchinger's self-portrait, in the familiar pose on a cushion, is at the bottom. The text, giving some information on the bishop and his own brief biography, spans both sides of the image. It is signed and dated Cork 1738" (p. 141).

Robert Clayton (1695–1758) was an Irish Protestant bishop, notorious for his unorthodox beliefs, who was facing charges of heresy, which were forestalled by his death. Buchinger's lengthy explanatory caption—a virtual autobiography—reads "Cork, in the Year of Our Lord, 1738. This Coat of Arms belonging to the Right Revd. Robert Clayton Lord Bishop of Corke together with this Portrait of Matthew Buchinger was Drawn and Written by Himself. He is the Wonderful Little man of but 29 Inches High born without Hands Feet or Thighs June the 3d. 1674; Germany, in the marquisate of Brandenburgh near to Nurenburgh he being the last of Nine Children by one Father & Mother, Vizt.; Eight Sons, and one Daughter, the Same Little Man has been Married Four times and has had Issue Fourteen Children, Vizt., One by his First Wife, Three by his Second, Six by his third & Four by his Preasant Wife."

The year after he completed the present manuscript, the "Wonderful Little man," whose achievements are literally incredible, was dead.

REFERENCE:
Exemplars, p. 61; MB, fig. 55; Wordplay 73

Condition Report:
Condition as described in catalogue entry.

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