The Annunciation

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.