Ivory tankard in silver gilt mounts thumbnail 1
Not on display

Ivory tankard in silver gilt mounts

Tankard
1662-1696 (made)
Artist/Maker
Hering, Hans Heinrich (maker)
Place of origin
Augsburg (made)

Lidded tankards had been a popular form of drinking vessel across Northern Europe from the mid-sixteenth-century. Augsburg goldsmiths produced numerous examples with striking and fantastic ornament. The mounts on this tankard were made by Augsburg goldsmith Hans Heinrich Hering, but the carved ivory drum is the work of another artist, possibly Ulrich Herdtler, a Swiss pupil of David Heschler (1611-1667). The subject-matter of the decoration is inspired by the antique, and comprises a frieze of tritons (sea gods) and nereids (sea nymphs) amongst reeds and water.

Object details

Category
Drinking
Object type
Tankard
TitleIvory tankard in silver gilt mounts (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Ivory
Ivory
Silver- Gilt
Carved
Repoussé
Brief description
Tankard, ivory with silver gilt mounts, German (Augsburg), 1662-1696, mark of Hans Heinrich Hering.
Physical description
Tankard. Ivory drum, carved in relief with tritons and nereids, mounted in repoussé silver-gilt.
Dimensions
  • Height: 6.75in
  • Diameter: 4.375in
Marks and inscriptions
  • (Assay mark on the underside of the lid rim.)
  • (Maker's mark 'HH' monogram for Hans Heinrich Hering, and Augsburg town mark, on the base and on the outer rim of the lid.)
Gallery label
(1993 - 2011)
TANKARD
German (Augsberg?); late 17th century
Ivory mounted in silver-gilt; the silver marks are perhaps those of Hans Heinrich Hering (d.1696)
Jones collection

Decorated with Tritons and Nereids
Credit line
Bequeathed by John Jones
Object history
The mounts for the tankard are the work of Augsburg goldsmith Hans Heinrich Hering, who became a master goldsmith in 1662. Few of his works survive: Seling (1980, no. 1640 and 1994, p. 42) lists only a chalice and a cup in the form of a fish (made with the goldsmith Johann I Seutter) with his mark.

Nothing is known of the early ownership of the tankard. In the nineteenth century it entered the collection of John Jones, who bequeathed it to the Museum on his death in 1882.
Subjects depicted
Tritons
Nereids
Summary
Lidded tankards had been a popular form of drinking vessel across Northern Europe from the mid-sixteenth-century. Augsburg goldsmiths produced numerous examples with striking and fantastic ornament. The mounts on this tankard were made by Augsburg goldsmith Hans Heinrich Hering, but the carved ivory drum is the work of another artist, possibly Ulrich Herdtler, a Swiss pupil of David Heschler (1611-1667). The subject-matter of the decoration is inspired by the antique, and comprises a frieze of tritons (sea gods) and nereids (sea nymphs) amongst reeds and water.
Bibliographic references
  • List of Objects in the Art Division, South Kensington Museum acquired during the Year 1882. London: Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1883. pp. 77
  • Seling, Helmut. Die Kunst der Augsburger Goldschmiede 1529-1868. 3 vols. Munich: C. H. Beck, 1980. ISBN 3406057292 (set)
  • Seling, Helmut. Die Kunst der Augsburger Goldschmiede 1529-1868. Supplement zu Band III. Meister, Marken, Beschauzeichen. Munich: C. H. Beck, 1994. ISBN 3406378072
  • Longhurst, Margaret, H. Catalogue of Carvings in Ivory. II. London: The Board of Education, 1929. pp. 91
  • Mitchell, H. P.. [Catalogue entries]. In: Catalogue of the Jones Collection, Part II: Ceramics, Ormolu, Goldsmiths' Work, Enamels, Sculpture, Tapestry, Books, and Prints. London: The Board of Education, 1924.
Collection
Sculpture Collection
Accession number
852-1882

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Record createdJuly 24, 2008
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O164154/ivory-tankard-in-silver-gilt-tankard-hering-hans-heinrich/
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