An important Reval parcel gilt silver communion jug made for the Barons von der Pahlen. Marks of Peter Polack, ca. 1678.
Engraved to the exterior with arms of alliance and two inscribed banderoles reading: "GUSTAFF CHRISTIAN VON DER PAHLEN / MARGARETA DOROTEA METTSTACKEN" and "ERW. HERMAN ZÖG / ELSA ELISABET METTSTAKEN", each dated "Ao 1678". With weight "150 Lot" to the underside. Some traces of soldering and repairs. H 37 cm, weight 1,650 g.
This communion jug originates from the Estonian manor of Palmse, which was already in the possession of the Baltic Metztacken (Medstak) family in 1522. The estate passed into the hands of the Pahlen family in 1677 through Margaretha Dorothea Metztacken's (1656 - 1681) marriage to Baron Gustav Christian von der Pahlen (1648 - 1736). When their daughter Elsa Elisabeth was baptised on 19th December 1678, the parents - together with Margaretha's sister Elsa Elisabeth and her husband Baron Erw (Arvid) Hermann Zoege v. Manteuffel - donated this communion jug engraved with their coat of arms and the date of the christening. The younger Elsa Elisabeth married Baron Hans Heinrich v. Fock auf Saggad (1673 - 1739) in 1698.
Literature
Cf. a tankard by Polack illus. in: Ehrnrooth, Baltic Silver, Espoo 1991, no. 73. For this type of Reval silver wine jug, cf.: Leistikow 1996, illus. 55 ff., and cat.: Die Silberkammer in der St. Nikolaikirche, Reval 2002, p. 63.