Late 15th century copper gilt beaker

An important late 15th century copper gilt beaker, Nuremberg. Attributed to the workshop of Sebastian Lindenast the Elder, engraved with floral leaf scrolls with applied tracery and vine and leaf, the beaker being supported by three kneeling men holding barber pole staffs.

During the middle ages, silversmiths in Nuremberg and other cities were generally prohibited from working in copper gilt in order to protect the lucrative market for precious wares. By imperial privilege, however, the Lindenast family was permitted to use copper, and this vessel is probably from the workshop of Sebastian Lindenast the Elder.

Information from the previous owner has noted the beaker was found in a bombed house in Cologne after the second world war, and the beaker shows what looks to be a heat blast from one side and the gilt removed through this blast. This example would have had a lid.

Another beaker from the same workshop can be seen in ‘ The Metropolitan Museum of Art’ and is illustrated in there book ‘The Cloisters’ Medieval art and architecture, page 145 cat No. 10.