A Polish silver gilt tankard
Cylindrical tankard on a rounded base engraved with landscapes in reserves. The handle formed as a herm. Engraved to the body with fruit garlands and birds surrounding scenic depictions of Psalms 30, 41 and 68 in three large cornucopia surrounds. The domed lid reiterating the decor of the base and engraved in the centre with a depiction of Psalm 118. H 13.3 cm, weight 328 g.
Lissa (Leszno) / Poland, marks of Joachim Scholtz, around 1680.
Like the jug mentioned in the catalogue cited above, this one also appears to have originally been used as a communion jug. In both cases, Christ is depicted as an angel in the engraved biblical scenes. And in both the jug in the Germanisches Nationalmuseum and ours, the numbering of the psalms in the depictions appears to refer to the Hebrew numeration. In the scene labelled Psalm 118 on the lid, for example, a kneeling figure hands a heart to a standing angel with the tablets of the law. Psalm 119 of the Hebrew version reads:
I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commandments.
Provenance
Kenneth Davis art dealership, London 1994; Westphalian private collection.
Literature
Scholtz was one of the most important goldsmiths in Lissa. Two of his wine jugs were found in the parish church of the Bohemian Brethren; Scholtz created another jug for the Lutheran church in Lissa (cf. Cat. German Goldsmiths' Art, Berlin 1992, p. 243); cf. also a communion jug by the master in the collection of the Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg, illustrated ibid. no. 142.