The Annunciation

About the Artwork

This object entered the collection attributed to the German sculptor Johann Paul Egell. However, this attribution never sat comfortably because Egell mostly worked on large-scale commissions in stone, stucco, and wood, rather than with these more precious materials. Recent research indicates that the work is by Düchert, one of Egell's most gifted students, who translated Egell's distinct visual language—the elongated figures, tiny heads, unusually flattened space, and planar handling of drapery—into small-scale ivories.

Provenance

Thomas Howard-Sneyd (London, England), sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1981.

Exhibition history

The Year in Review for 1981. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 17-March 21, 1982).

Quick Overview

Artist: Johann Michael Düchert (German, 1725–1799)
Date: 1750s
Medium: ivory, ebony, velvet, in the original gilded and glazed frame
Dimensions: Framed: 56.5 x 41.9 x 6.3 cm (22 1/4 x 16 1/2 x 2 1/2 in.); Unframed: 33.5 x 25.4 x 3.5 cm (13 3/16 x 10 x 1 3/8 in.)
Type: Sculpture
Classification: Sculpture
Department: European Painting and Sculpture
Credit line: John L. Severance Fund
Accession no.: 1981.12

Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.