Tankard thumbnail 1
Tankard thumbnail 2
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Ceramics, Room 137, The Curtain Foundation Gallery

Tankard

1720-1730 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Cylindrical with plain rim and slightly spreading base. Plain curved handle of semicircular section. Painted with a scene of 'The Flight into Egypt', occupying the whole circuit of the tankard. In the middle the Virgin Mary holding the Child Christ, sits on an ass, which is led to the right by Joseph. Landscape background with steep rocky hills; on either side trees with feathery foliage and stumps and bushes. Signature 'MS' incised in the black pigment on a rock on the right. Plain pewter lid, hinged to handle, with orb thumb-knob; foot-ring to match, no marks.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Tin-glazed earthenware painted in purplish black, with pewter mount
Brief description
Tankard of earthenware covered with a tin glaze, painted in purplish black (Schwarzlot) and mounted in pewter. Painted and signed 'MS', proabably for Mattäus Schmid. German, Nuremberg, about 1720-30.
Physical description
Cylindrical with plain rim and slightly spreading base. Plain curved handle of semicircular section. Painted with a scene of 'The Flight into Egypt', occupying the whole circuit of the tankard. In the middle the Virgin Mary holding the Child Christ, sits on an ass, which is led to the right by Joseph. Landscape background with steep rocky hills; on either side trees with feathery foliage and stumps and bushes. Signature 'MS' incised in the black pigment on a rock on the right. Plain pewter lid, hinged to handle, with orb thumb-knob; foot-ring to match, no marks.
Dimensions
  • Of tankard; taken from register height: 5 1/2in
  • Taken from register diameter: 3 3/4in
Marks and inscriptions
'M S.' (painted on front of tankard)
Translation
probably for Matthäus Schmid
Gallery label
Tankard with pewter mounts depicting The Flight into Egypt Probably painted by Matthias Schmid, Nuremberg, Germany about 1720 Marks: 'M S.', incised Tin-glazed earthenware C.41-1939(16/07/2008)
Credit line
Bought
Object history
Bought from Hans E. Backer, London.
This tankard was formerly in the collection of Kommerzienrat J. Mühsam, Berlin.
Historical context
Note in Register: Other examples of the same artist illustrated by Pazaurek and see also Lanna Collection, 1146, 1157.
Production
According to Helmut Bosch (see reference) there are three possible individuals linked to the initials 'MS' and the signature 'M. Schmid': Mattäus Schmid, Melchior Schmid and Michael Schmid, however the first one is more likely.
Subjects depicted
Bibliographic references
  • Strauss, K., 'Seltene...', Keramos, Dec. 1974
  • Bosch, Helmut. Die Nürnberger hausmaler. Klinkhardt & Biermann, Munich, 1984. catalogue no. 322, illustrated, 401p. The figure of the Virgin with the child on her lap is generally thought to be after Johann Jakob Sandrart (1655-1698), probably via the woodcut in the Lutherian bible, published by Johann Andreas Endter in Nuremberg in 1710. Another tankard illustrated with a slightly different version of the same subject is in Hamburg, Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, see catalogue no. 323. For information about the identity of 'MS' or 'M.Schmid', see pp. 528-529.
Collection
Accession number
C.41-1939

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Record createdJuly 16, 2008
Record URL
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