Tankard, coconut with silver-gilt mounts, German, about 1580

An undecorated coconut mounted in two parts with a handle to form the body and hinged lid of a tankard. The silver-gilt mounts around the neck are variously chased with fruit and strapwork cartouches or engraved with strapwork and are linked to the similarly engraved round foot by three vertical straps each chased with a putto below a female mask. The cast handle is in the shape of a herm and terminates in a hoof. The thumbpiece is cast in the shape of a two-tailed mermaid. The lid is surmounted by a turned finial.

Fritz states that this was formerly in a collection belonging to a member of the Rothschild family, but does not specify which (see References).

Formerly in the collection of Albert Ullmann in Frankfurt am Main.

Purchased by the Museum for £135 under the Hildburgh Bequest.

Historical significance: Coconut tankards (i..e drinking vessels with a handle) are much rarer survivors than coconut cups.

The contents of late medieval and 16th century cabinets of curiosities and buffet displays reflected the prevailing European taste for natural and man-made wonders enhanced with silver or silver-gilt mounts. These were primarily objects of delight rather than of use, although often made in functional forms. Little is known about the production and marketing of mounted vessels made from exotic natural materials, although it can be assumed that certain goldsmiths specialised in the field.

Coconuts are the fruit of the cocoa palm tree which is native to the Pacific. Mounted coconut vessels were popular items on the European buffet from at least the 13th century, evoking exotic and unknown worlds overseas, and were originally credited with magical and pharmaceutical properties, such as the power to detect the presence of poisons or to act as an aphrodisiac. Although mounted coconuts were often found in collecting cabinets, most often as standing cups and sometimes with zoomorphic mounts resembling, among other creatures, owls, ostriches or eagles, they do not seem to have been considered as rare as other exotic materials, like mother-of-pearl, nautilus shell, ivory or horn. By the late 16th century skillfully carved nuts (often with Old Testament scenes or mythological stories that appealed to Mannerist sensibilities), were highly valued, but the mounts on this unworked coconut must have been valued in their own right and demonstrate the goldsmith's skill in engraving, chasing and casting.

The contents of late medieval and 16th century cabinets of curiosities and buffet displays reflected the prevailing European taste for natural and man-made wonders enhanced with silver or silver-gilt mounts. These were primarily objects of delight rather than of use, although often made in functional forms. Little is known about the production and marketing of mounted vessels made from exotic natural materials, although it can be assumed that certain goldsmiths specialised in the field.

Coconuts are the fruit of the cocoa palm tree which is native to the Pacific. Mounted coconut vessels were popular items on the European buffet from at least the 13th century, evoking exotic and unknown worlds overseas, and were originally credited with magical and pharmaceutical properties, such as the power to detect the presence of poisons or to act as an aphrodisiac. Although mounted coconuts were often found in collecting cabinets, most often as standing cups and sometimes with zoomorphic mounts resembling, among other creatures, owls, ostriches or eagles, they do not seem to have been considered as rare as other exotic materials, like mother-of-pearl, nautilus shell, ivory or horn. By the late 16th century skilfully carved nuts (often with Old Testament scenes or mythological stories that appealed to Mannerist sensibilities), were highly valued, but the mounts on this unworked coconut must have been valued in their own right and demonstrate the goldsmith's skill in engraving, chasing and casting.

M.36-1960