S393: Communion beaker
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© The Holburne Museum of Art, Bath
| Museum number | S393 |
| Title | Communion beaker |
| Object type | In category: Metalwork » Drinking vessel » Beaker |
| Date | 1636 |
| People |
Remmereus, Gerrijt (known) - Gold/silversmith(s) |
| Place of origin | Europe » Northern Europe » Low countries » Netherlands » Netherlands |
| Condition |
Good |
| Dimensions |
18.9 cm height whole 12.5 cm diameter whole |
| Weight |
13.0 ounces whole |
| Materials & techniques |
In category:
Metal
»
Silver-gilt
|
| Description | Silver-gilt beaker with flared cylindrical bowl on a slightly domed foot. The body is engraved with personifications of the three Theological Virtues within strapwork cartouches. Faith is depicted with a font, cross and book, Hope with a crow, an anchor and a ship in the background and Charity with an infant and two children. Engraved garlands of fruit and foliage with parrots hang between the cartouches and further exotic birds, insects and snails are engraved around the lower body. The rim is engraved with an arabesque border that incorporates a lion and a stag hunt. A spiked collar runs around the base. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Marks and inscriptions |
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| Notes | This is a rare and early example of silver made at Dokkum in the northern Dutch province of Friesland. Beakers of the same type were also made in the neighbouring province of Groningen. They were often used as communion cups: the band of spikes that runs around the base may represent the Crown of Thorns worn by Jesus Christ at the Crucifixion. The goldsmith Gerrijt Remmerus was born in Kollum, Friesland and moved to Dokkum in 1633. This beaker is engraved with a double coat of arms dated 1636 that probably commemorates a marriage. Sir T. W. Holburne acquired four further seventeenth century Dutch beakers (S390, S391, S392, S394) and a brandy bowl made in Dokkum (S380). |
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| Literature |
A. Butcher and E. J. C. Smith, A Catalogue of Silver at the Holburne Museum, Bath, 1996, p.44, no.324 |
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| Muse theme | The Art of Collecting |
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| Muse chapter |
The History of the Holburne Collection » Sir William Holburne and his Collection » Establishing taste: Sir William' s Grand Tour, 1824-5
The History of the Holburne Collection » The Collection » Silver |
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| Gallery Label |
Three Communion Beakers 1. Dokkum, by Gerrijt Remmerens, 1636, Silver-gilt, later re-gilt S393 2. Groningen, by Lambert Muntinck, 1641, Silver, later gilt S394 3. Groningen, maker's mark CL, 1650, Silver S390 Many Dutch Protestant churches were stripped of their images and whitewashed, but imagery survived on liturgical objects such as these communion cups made in the Northern Provinces of Dokkum and Groningen. (Winterbottom, Matthew) 23-1-2006 |
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| Method of acquisition | Bequest | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Provenance | Sir T. W. Holburne (1793-1874); by whom bequeathed to Mary Anne Barbara Holburne (1802-1882); by whom bequeathed to the Museum | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Exhibition history |
Title of exhibition: National Exhibition of Works of Art Title of exhibition: Special Exhibition of Works of Art Title of exhibition: Centenary Exhibition of Silver in the Holburne Collection Title of exhibition: Town House Treasures: Sir Thomas William Holburne of Bath |
