Mozart &
Material Culture

For a contemporaneous German understanding of zebra, see Johann Heinrich Zedler, Grosses vollständiges Universal-Lexicon aller Wissenschafften und Künste (Halle and Leipzig, 1731-1754), 52.1350-1: ‘Wald-Esel (Egyptian), Lat. Zecora, or Zebra, is a marvelous animal, shaped like a horse with somewhat long ears. Its skin alternates black and white or gray stripes, not only the head, neck and body, but also the feet. . . Because of its beauty it sells for a very high price, often 14 or 15000 ducats, and because of this the nobility (grossen Herren) often send one as a gift.’