The three pen-and-ink drawings on small, square-cut sheets with ornamental designs are among the most prominent drawings in the Albrecht Haupt Collection. They were presented, among others, at the large Dürer exhibition in the Germanic National Museum in Nuremberg in 1971. They were probably in the possession of the English collector Thomas Howard, the 14th Earl of Arundel (1586-1646), at the beginning of the 17th century. This is supported by the fact that the engraver Wenzel Hollar (1607-1677), who was supported by Howard, was able to publish two of the three designs in copperplate engraving. Haupt probably acquired the drawings at the end of the 19th century from the Feder collection in Karlsruhe.
It is possible that Dürer drew the designs for his brother Endres (1484-1555), who worked as a goldsmith in Nuremberg. The art historian Erwin Panofsky also attributed the drawings to Endres Dürer. In the collection of Albrecht Haupt there are some more drawings and prints, which probably originate from Dürer's hand or can be attributed to the early Dürer reception of the 16th century.
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