Cup and Cover ('Buckelpokal')
1609-1629 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
The form of this lidded cup, covered in a pattern of sharply-embossed lobes, is typical of the work of Nuremberg goldsmiths. It also shows how fifteenth century designs still appealed in the seventeenth century. An early example of this type of cup (now in the Iparmüvészeti Museum, Budapest) dates to 1481; this one in the V&A bears the Nuremberg town assay mark for 1609-21, 140 years later. Cups during this period had a function beyond that of mere drinking vessel. Goldsmiths were often commissioned to make this particular type, known in German as a 'Buckelpokal', or 'lobed cup', as a gift for visiting civic dignitaries or to commemorate family alliances. As this example lacks any inscription or coat of arms, however, the circumstances behind its making are unknown.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | chased, cast, engraved, electro-gilded |
| Brief description | Cup and cover, silver, parcel-gilt, Nuremberg,1609-1621, mark of Philipp Scheurer (1609-1633) or Paulus Stein (1581-1621). |
| Physical description | Cup and cover, gilded silver with applied silver elements; the bowl chased and applied with twisted rope moulding separating the lobes from the rim which is engraved with scrolling foliage and birds, the stem with cut and curled silver frills at the junction of foot and bowl; the lid chased, with vase finial from which emerge silver flowers and frills. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions | Marked on outer rim of bowl with:
Letter 'N' in circular punch, town mark for Nuremberg 1609-29 (Nürnberger Goldschmiedekunst, I.1, p. 503, BZ13).
Letters 'PS' in monogram in an oval punch,maker's mark of Paulus Stein (1581-21: see Nürnberger Goldschmiedekunst, I.1, p. 403, no. 862) or Philipp Scheurer (1609-33: see Nürnberger Goldschmiedekunst, I.1, p. 375, no. 793).
On outer rim of bowl, on upper rim of lid and on upper rim of foot: letters 'CE' in shaped punch, the tax mark of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, 1806-07. |
| Gallery label |
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| Object history | This is the only known piece of Nuremberg silver marked with the maker's mark of the letters 'PS' in monogram in an oval punch (see Nürnberger Goldschmiedekunst, I.1, p. 487, no. 1085). Two possible candidates are recorded in the registers of the Nuremberg goldsmiths company, Paulus Stein and Philipp Scheurer, whose careers overlap with the date of the Nuremberg assay mark on the piece (1609-29). The form of the cup is typical of late-sixteenth and early seventeenth-century Nuremberg goldsmiths' work. The lobed form was extremely popular and these cups were a popular gift among the city élite and as gifts to visiting dignitaries. This particular example bears no inscription, however, or arms, so it is impossible to determine whether it was made in response to a particular occasion. |
| Summary | The form of this lidded cup, covered in a pattern of sharply-embossed lobes, is typical of the work of Nuremberg goldsmiths. It also shows how fifteenth century designs still appealed in the seventeenth century. An early example of this type of cup (now in the Iparmüvészeti Museum, Budapest) dates to 1481; this one in the V&A bears the Nuremberg town assay mark for 1609-21, 140 years later. Cups during this period had a function beyond that of mere drinking vessel. Goldsmiths were often commissioned to make this particular type, known in German as a 'Buckelpokal', or 'lobed cup', as a gift for visiting civic dignitaries or to commemorate family alliances. As this example lacks any inscription or coat of arms, however, the circumstances behind its making are unknown. |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | 502-1854 |
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| Record created | June 24, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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