MARK OF BEREND VON ACKEN, KIEL, DATED 1671, MAKER'S MARK ONLY

Details

A rare German silver tankard
Mark of Berend von Acken, Kiel, dated 1671, maker's mark only
Cylindrical on three spirally fluted ball feet and with beaded scroll handle, the body spirally fluted into panels alternatively plain and embossed with Europa and the Bull, Diana and Acteon and Cupid before an altar, above scenes of putti at play, the hinged cover with foliate thumbpiece, similarly decorated and centred by accolée coats-of-arms initialled AVA BVA, inscribed at the rim Bernhart von Acken Adelheit von Acken 1671, marked on base and with a later Dutch duty mark on cover and upper rim
19 cm. high
656 gr.

Provenance

Anonymous sale; Sotheby's, Geneva, 14 November 1994, lot 61.

Special notice

Christie’s charges a premium to the buyer on the Hammer Price of each lot sold at the following rates: 29.75% of the Hammer Price of each lot up to and including €5,000, plus 23.8% of the Hammer Price between €5,001 and €400,000, plus 14.28% of any amount in excess of €400,001. Buyer’s premium is calculated on the basis of each lot individually.

Lot Essay

Barend von Acken, court goldsmith in Eutin became a master there in 1688. Before this he is recorded in Kiel, 'Bürger' in 1667. See Hans Georg Schönfeld, Die Eutiner Goldschmiede, Neumünster, 1875, p. 29. Whether or not the armorials at the cover include those of von Acken as the initials above them would suggest has not been established; nor has it been possible to ascertain the name of von Acken's wife. In view of the date of 1671 below the rim it is interesting to note that Berend von Acken's son Georg Heinrich was born in this year.

More from The Schliemann Collection European Silver

View All