1617, GERMANY OR NETHERLANDS, PERHAPS HALL-IN-TYROL OR BOHEMIA

This impressive humpen has an unusually bold graphic design and is dated 1617, coinciding with Ferdinand II's (1578-1637) coronation as King of Bohemia. Ferdinand, a member of the House of Habsburg, was a devout Catholic and he obtained the support of the Spanish Habsburgs in his succession as King of Bohemia and later in 1619 when he became Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. Thus a strong political and military alliance was formed between the more senior Habsburg Spanish branch of the family, under King Philip III of Spain (1578-1621) and his cousin, the more junior Austrian Habsburg branch of Ferdinand II. Negotiations over key holdings still in dispute following the 1521 division of the House of Habsburg resulted in the Onate Treaty (signed in 1617) which allowed Ferdinand II to freely contend to become King of Bohemia and subsequently the Holy Roman Emperor, without competition. In turn, Ferdinand II granted Philip III undisputed reign of Habsburg territories along the 'Spanish Road', a loosely connected string of Habsburg territories that ranged from upper Italy, through Alsace and the Free County of Burgundy, to the Spanish Netherlands, securing the main Spanish supply route during the Eighty Years' War (or Dutch War of Independence) against the Protestant Dutch.

The two knights on horseback are depicted in celebratory pose wearing full military regalia. They are not shown in battle or in a warring stance and this may reflect the military and political alliances made between the two Habsburg branches of Philip III and Ferdinand II in 1617. The inscription 'he who wins me often, seldom retains his wits' conveys the obvious connotations relating to drink but it may also allude to a triumph in battle or to shrewd negotiations won. The celebratory tones are emphasised with the inclusion of the vignette of Bacchus and Ceres. It seems fitting that the iconography on this humpen is closely related to that of the Nine Worthies; a series of nine legendary princes who personified chivalry, each representing a different moral virtue. Here they relate to an engraving signed by Maerten van Heemskerck (1498-1574), Hieronymous Cock (1518-1570) and Herman Jansz Muller (1540-1617), after a drawing dated 1567 in Haarlem (Gemeentearcheif, Preibisz, 1911, no. 28.).1 The knights are in a mirror formation and are depicted in the same stance as Hector of Troy and Julius Caesar, both holding aloft jousting lances with flags emblazoned with a lion rampant and Imperial eagle (or lion passant and a ram, as in the case of the engraved humpen). The iconography of the Nine Worthies remained popular from Medieval times well into the 17th century and would have been a fitting representation of the two powerful Habsburg monarchs; its significance would not have been lost on the recipient of this humpen.


Examples of this large size are rare and the majority of those that survive are engraved with either coats-of-arms or are Kurfürstenhumpen, depicting the Electors of the Holy Roman Empire. See the example in the British Museum attributed to Tyrol or Innsbruck and engraved with the coat-of-arms of Archduke Ferdinand II of Austria (M&M 1881, 6-25, 7). See also the Kurfürstenhumpen illustrated by Brigitte Klesse and Hans Mayr, Veredelte Gläser aus Renaissance und Barock Sammlung Ernesto Wolf, Austria, 1987, no. 38. An unusual armorial humpen dated 1614 is in the collection of the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles and is engraved with a sword fight and satirical verse (84.DK.560).

1. Ilja M. Veldman, The New Hollstein Dutch & Flemish Etchings, Engravings and Woodcuts 1450-1700: Maarten van Heemsckerck Part II (New Testament, Allegories, Mythology, History and Miscellaneous subjects), Koninklijke Van Poll, Roosendaal, 2004, pp. 198-199, no. 521/1.