Beaker

Unknown

ca. 1656 · Silver, partly gilded · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

A wave pattern, suggestive of rippling water in a slight breeze or a lamb’s fleecy coat, covers the body of this beaker. This type of decoration is unique to sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Hungarian and Transylvanian silver. It is a variation of the snakeskin pattern: both are designed to provide better grip. A closely-related beaker formerly in the collection of Yves Saint Laurent is numbered, as are other examples, which indicates it was part of a larger set. The present example was once in the Andrássy collection.

Artist

Unknown

Date

ca. 1656

Medium

Silver, partly gilded

Culture

Hungarian

Department

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Credit line

Gift of The Salgo Trust for Education, New York, in memory of Nicolas M. Salgo, 2010