UNMARKED, PROBABLY NUREMBERG, CIRCA 1540

Details

A GERMAN PARCEL-GILT SILVER TANKARD
UNMARKED, PROBABLY NUREMBERG, CIRCA 1540
Of slightly tapering cylindrical form on molded rim foot, the body with applied mid rib and engraved with two bands of arabesques and scrolling foliage after Heinrich Aldegraver, the cover similarly engraved and centered by a circular plaque enameled with accolé coats-of-arms, the tubular scroll handle with lobed knops and terminating in a scroll flanked by flowerheads, with bifurcated scroll and flower thumbpiece, apparently unmarked
4 5⁄8 in. (11.7 cm.) high
16 oz. 14 dwt. (519 gr.)
The dexter coat-of-arms is possibly that of Weisin of Mecklenburg, the sinister coat-of-arms is unidentified.

Provenance

A Gentleman; Christie's, London, 15 November 1967, lot 109.
Acquired from Frank Partridge & Sons Ltd., London, 17 January 1968.

Literature

T. Schroder, Renaissance and Baroque Silver, Mounted Porcelain and Ruby Glass from the Zilkha Collection, London, 2012, cat. no. 8, pp. 88-90.

Conditions of sale

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Lot Essay

The decoration on the present lot is closely related to the designs of German printer and engraver Heinrich Aldegrever (1502-1555⁄61), who originally trained as a goldsmith. A print in the collection of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam specifically depicts very similar scrolled foliage to that seen on this tankard, while a further print shows two spoons which are similar in form to the tankard's handle (obj. nos. RP-F-2001-7-1277-15 and 46). When the present tankard was sold at Christie's, London in 1967, the department notes that it was brought in by a gentleman who had found it on the counter of an iron monger's shop full of nails.

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