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Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Silver, Room 69, The Whiteley Galleries

Cup and Cover

1609-1623 (made)
Artist/Maker
Wolff, Tobias (maker)
Place of origin
Nuremberg (made)

Silver gilt (re-gilt) pineapple cup and cover, lobed body on tree stem with man, surmounted by cut open-work floral finial, axeman has lost his axe, spiral twisted wire surrounding trunk.


Object details

Categories
Metalwork
Drinking
Object type
Cup and cover
Parts
This object consists of 2 parts.

  • Cups
  • Cover (Closure)
Materials and techniques
Silver-gilt, chased, raised and cast
Silver
Raising
Chasing
Casting
Brief description
Pineapple cup and cover, gilded silver, chased, raised and cast, Germany (Nuremberg), mark of Tobias Wolff, 1609-1623
Physical description
Silver gilt (re-gilt) pineapple cup and cover, lobed body on tree stem with man, surmounted by cut open-work floral finial, axeman has lost his axe, spiral twisted wire surrounding trunk.
Dimensions
  • Height: 28.60cm
  • Length: 7.50cm
  • Width: 6.70cm
Marks and inscriptions
  • Nuremberg hallmark (BZ13) (marked on rim of foot, lip of cup and one of the lobes of the lid)
  • maker's mark of Tobias Wolff (MZ989)
Gallery label
  • GRAPE CUP Silver-gilt, with silver decoration. Town mark of Nurnberg. Maker, Tobias Wolf, (fl.1604-20). Between 1604 and 1620. Circ.65-1938.(Pre-2000)
  • Silver Gallery: The stem of this 'grape' cup has been repaired and it is possible that it is a replacement. The gilding is much stronger than on the rest of the cup and the spiral tendril is probably new.(26/11/2002)
Credit line
Gift of Mr. Eric Miller through The Art Fund
Object history
Stem has been replaced.
Tobias Wolf was first mentioned in the list of goldsmiths as a silver-worker in 1586, and appears for the last time in 1620 - see bibliography.
Production
date based upon use of hallmark and year of maker's death
Subjects depicted
Pineapple
Grapes
Tree-Stump
Male Figure
Axes (Tools)
Flowers (Bouquets)
Bibliographic references
  • Hampe, Theodor. Nürnberger Ratsverlässe. Quellenschrift für Kunstgeschichte II (1904) No. 1800. Note I.
  • Nürnberger Goldschmiedekunst. 1541-1868. Band I. Meister, Werke, Marken. 2 parts. Nuremberg (Verlag des Germanischen Nationalmuseums) 2007. Part I, p. 458, MZ989, no. 09.
Collection
Metalwork Collection
Accession number
CIRC.65&A-1938

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Record createdFebruary 9, 2004
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O91629/cup-and-cover-wolff-tobias/
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