A Dutch silver coconut cup and cover

MAKER'S MARK INDISTINCT, LEEUWARDEN, 1671, THE FOOT RIM ALSO STRUCK WITH SOME OTHER INDISTINCT MARKS

Details

A Dutch silver coconut cup and cover
Maker's mark indistinct, Leeuwarden, 1671, the foot rim also struck with some other indistinct marks
With high-domed and circular-shaped base, the reverse inscribed on the outer rim 20 7/8 loot, the stem in formed as a savage with a club supporting the coconut carved with three biblical scenes of Judith and Holofernes, Lot and his daughters and Marriage at Cana, and with three silver bands, the stepped domed cover with female figure finial symbolising the goddess Fortune
32cm. high
marked on reverse

Provenance

With Salomon Stodel Antiquits, Amsterdam, 21st Art and Antique fair Delft, The Netherlands, 1969.

Lot Essay

A comparable coconut cup mount by Elias van de Velde made in The Hague in 1660 is in the collection of the Municipal Museum in The Hague (J.W. Frederiks, Dutch Silver, The Hague, 1961, no. 230, pl. 229; (Beeling, Nederlands Zilver 1600-1813, part III, Heerenveen, pp. 140-141).

The mounts of this coconut cup are quite plain, which is not unusual for the second half of the 17th Century. The excellent quality of the carving gives of the impression that the nut is earlier than the mounts.
The savage, forming the stem of the object, represents the animal in mankind. The figure on top of the cup represents Fortune, who is an example of modesty and perseverance.

See illustration

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