CIRCA 1500, APPARENTLY UNMARKED

Details

A GERMAN SILVER-GILT CUP AND COVER
Circa 1500, apparently unmarked
On octafoil foot chased with lobes above fluted band, with raised fluted centre, the upper part of the stem with replaced waisted band and possibly later applied foliage, the bowl chased with lobes and with applied beaded band around the lip, the cover with Gothic tracery foliage border and chased with similar lobes, the finial formed as a winged putto holding an enamelled coat-of-arms above a band of further applied Gothic foliage, the interior of the cover with octafoil nut chased with fruit and foliage
13½ in. (34.3 cm.) high
Gross weight 21 oz. (671 gr.)
The arms are those of Ahrendts-Niederberg, Castell, Ganser de Gans or Liebeneck, all from Bavaria

Provenance

Sir Julius Wernher, 1st Bt. (1850-1912), Bath House, London, 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. 132, no. 657, in the safe.

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

A cup of very similar form dated circa 1480-90 is at Schloss Wachendorf near Horb am Neckar in the collection of Freicherr von Ow (J. M. Fritz Goldschmiedekunst der Gotik in Mitteleuropa, Munich, 1982, p. 14, no. 845). The arms on the finial of the present cup are clearly applied later, presumably over the original.

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