Description
The tankard is of tapering cylindrical form on three cherub feet.
Around the base are stamped stylized foliate
motifs and an engraved band of wrigglework;
the base is inset with a medallion. The body has applied reeded
moulding around the centre and the lip and is etched
with six portrait medallions within laurel wreaths, panels of arabesque
foliage and strapwork, and a coat of arms. The slightly raised cover
is inset with a medallion within an etched surround of arabesques
and strapwork; it has a mermaid thumbpiece. The similarly etched
scroll handle has lion-mask terminals at the hinge. Widely spaced
around the body are the later engraved initials I L P V L.
Construction
The base and body are raised
from a single sheet. The feet and thumbpiece are cast and the feet
strengthened with applied brackets at the back. The D-section handle
is raised in two pieces and soldered together.
Heraldry
The coat of arms has not been identified.
Commentary
Although the tankard carries the maker's mark of Wenzel Jamnitzer,
his surviving works are in a virtuoso, mannerist style characterized
by a complex program of ornament and a brilliant command of diverse
techniques, including casting on a minute scale, enamelling, etching,
and engraving. This tankard, by contrast, is a typical example of
mid-sixteenth-century south German decorated plate and has none
of the inventiveness usually associated with Jamnitzer. It is most
unlikely, therefore, that the goldsmith himself was responsible
for its manufacture. Since its quality is not equal to that of any
object that can be definitely associated with his workshop, the
only plausible hypothesis is that the tankard was made elsewhere
and merely sponsored by Jamnitzer, possibly as a secondhand piece,
so that it could be assayed by the Nuremberg guild. This would have
been in keeping with the rules of most goldsmiths' guilds, according
to which only masters of that guild were permitted to submit objects
for assay.
Footed tankards'of this type are unusual,
and although it is possible that the feet on this example were added
at a later date, this would seem unlikely as there is no evidence
of wear around the base of the tankard.
The medallion set into the cover, both
sides of which are visible, is struck on the obverse with Christ
in Majesty and on the reverse with the Last Supper. It is attributed
to the Bohemian goldsmith and engraver Nickel Milic, who was working
at Joachimsthal in Saxony near the border of Bohemia from about
1545 to 1573.
The engraved decoration is of a conventional
type and is probably taken from a source such as the printed pattern
books of the Nuremberg artist Virgil Solis (1514-1562). The portrait
medallions of figures in contemporary costume do not depict identifiable
individuals and are almost certainly inspired by, if not directly
copied from, one of the many series of such medallions published
by Solis, some of which are within similar laurel-wreath surrounds.
Glossaries
foliate - to decorate
with foliage or leaves
wrigglework - a rudimentary decorative pattern consisting
of engraved zigzag lines
reeding - thin, parallel, convex moldings, often used for
the ornamentation of a border
etch - to produce a design by means of lines or strokes
eaten in or corroded by acid
arabesque - an intricate or elaborate pattern or design
raised - formed from a single sheet of metal by
repeated hammering over an anvil
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