A small and rare Warat mortar
Golden brown cast bronze with shimmering natural patina. Cylindrical form with a protruding stepped base and protruding rim. Angular handle of octagonal section with a node. Decorated with grotesques, male busts in profile and lion's head mascarons. Above and below the decorative motifs two bands of arabesques and Gothic tracery. The rim with two braided bands surrounding an inscription, presumably the name of the patron in capital letters: "JORG TRAGER". H 12.8, D 11.8 cm. Weight c. 1.9 kg. Includes a corresponding T-shaped pestle.
Tirol, attributed to Jakob Warat I, around 1600.
The name Warat (also spelt Worath, Warath, Waerat, Warater or Wörath) can be attributed to several persons in the Austrian region of Brixen, Taufers, Vahrn, Trens, Berghausen and Aigen and refers to one (or more?) families of sculptors and painters active from the late 16th to the 18th century.
Jakob Worath I (Warat, 1573-1605) lived in Taufers and is documented as a bell founder. The form and decor of this mortar is strongly reminiscent of the casting work of the Grassmayr family, who were also active in Brixen and Innsbruck and also cast bells and cannons. The lack of casts from nature, however, give grounds for the attribution to Warat. The inventory of the Ferdinandeum in Innsbruck also houses another mortar which is attributed to the foundry of Warat and shows comparable applications.