A silver gilt pear cup and cover for the Löffelholz family
Round base with embossed fruit designs supporting a chased shaft formed as a tree trunk and a figure of a hunter with a dog. The cup formed as a pear with scrollwork and mascarons alternating with fruit garlands, the domed lid with conforming decor and a standing figure of a Roman soldier supporting a coat of arms with the armorials of the Löffelholz family H 36.5 cm, weight 468 g.
Nuremberg, Hans Emmerling, c.1630 - 34.
The Löffelholz family in Kolberg were, like the Imhoff family, among the most important patricians in Nuremberg. They were already counted among the "inner council" as early as 1440. The original owner of this cup is thought to have been Burkhard Löffelholz (1599 - 1675), who was "Vorderster Losunger" (treasurer) and "Reichsschultheiß" (head official) of the imperial city of Nuremberg as a successor of Imhoff.
Literature
Goblets by this maker can be found today in Huis Dorn in the Netherlands, Eesti Kunstimuseum in Tallinn and in the armoury of the Kremlin in Moscow. For this type, cf. also cat.: Schätze deutscher Goldschmiedekunst, Berlin 1992, no. 26, and a pear goblet with an identically formed shaft in the Hermitage in St. Petersburg under: https://www.hermitagemuseum.org/wps/portal/hermitage/digital-collection/08.+applied+arts/140689