Tankard with Medal of Sigismond I, King of Poland
(Renaissance Europe )
Green jasper, turned on a lathe to create the cylinder of this tankard, is set off by finely engraved gilded silver mounts characteristic of south German workmanship of the mid to later 1500s. However, the gilded silver medal under the cover, its current placement apparently part of the original design, is dated 1538 and is by the Nuremberg medalist Matthes Gebel (active 1523-1574). It portrays Sigismund I, king of Poland (1467-1548), revered for bringing order and probity to government. The reign of his son Sigismund II (1520-1572) was marked by upheavals, so the medal, visible only to the drinker, may pay discrete homage to calmer times under the father.
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.
Seligmann; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1908 [mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Exhibitions
2000 | Small Northern European Portraits from The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. National Gallery of Art, Washington. |
1994 | Artful Dining: The Exhibition. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. |
1971-1972 | World of Wonder. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. |
Conservation
Date | Description | Narrative |
---|---|---|
10/13/1966 | Treatment | cleaned |
Geographies
Germany (Place of Origin)
Measurements
10 3/16 in. (25.8 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by Henry Walters, 1908
Location in Museum
Not on view
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
57.1029