DATED 1606, THE MOUNTS APPARENTLY UNMARKED, THE GLASS BOHEMIAN

Details

A GERMAN SILVER-GILT MOUNTED ENAMELLED GLASS TANKARD
Dated 1606, the mounts apparently unmarked, the glass Bohemian
The glass body enamelled with an owl painted in blue, shown spinning wool, both the owl and the action of spinning symbolic of wisdom, the date 1606 in red, sprays of white lily-of-the-valley and red, yellow and blue foliate scrolls, all beneath a moulded band with white beading, the neck with two further beaded bands, the domed cover inset with a small medal of the Emperor Charles V, within three oval cartouches chased with buildings and landscapes with fruit on matted ground between, the thumbpiece formed as a caryatid within architectural scroll cartouche (crack beneath lower terminal of handle)
6½ in. (16.5 cm.) high

Provenance

Sir Julius Wernher, 1st Bt. (1850-1912), Bath House, London, in the Red Room, by whom bequeathed, with a life interest to his widow, Alice, Lady Wernher, subsequently Lady Ludlow (1862-1945), to their son
Sir Harold Wernher, 3rd Bt., G.C.V.O. (1893-1973), Bath House, London, and from 1948, Luton Hoo, Bedfordshire, and by descent.

Literature

1913 Bath House Inventory, p. 39, no. 216, in the Red Room, in the 'showcase to the left of the fireplace'.
1914 Wernher Inventory, p. 39, no. 202.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

Another glass tankard also mounted in silver-gilt, but with the slightly earlier date of 1592, is in the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum, London (W. Buckley, The Art of Glass, London, 1939, pl. 67, no. 248, C.313-36). The form of the tankard is similar to two illustrated by B. Klesse and A. von Saldern, (500 Jahre Glaskunst - Die Sammlung Biemann), Zurich, 1978, p. 317, no. 270 and p. 328, no. 388.

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