Beautiful beaker with diamond-cut decoration on three ball feet

Objektnummer #

Augsburg 1670,
Master: Melchior Burtenbach

City’s Mark: a “pyr” for Augsburg, (Seling 2007, No. 0710)
Maker’s mark: Alloyed “MP“ in an oval for Melchior Burtenbach (Purtenbach) (Seling 2007, No. 1479)

Height 9 cm (3.54 inch), weight 147 gr.

Bilder

Detaillierte Informationen

Beautiful beaker with diamond-cut decoration on three ball feet

This first-class, partly gilded, beaker is provided with an excellent finish of the so-called diamond-cut decor. The slightly conical body with a wide profiled rim stands on three simple ball feet.

Drinking vessels with diamond-cut decoration
The cup in its basic form is a particularly beautiful object of table culture in southern Germany in the second half of the 17th century. The finely faceted exterior also represents a special type of Baroque ornamentation.
The diamond-cut decoration (also called diamond buckle decoration) found its inspiration in the Renaissance architecture. In Italy, for example, stones in diamond-cut were used for rustication (a special type of façade decoration). The surface of the stone on a square façade is formed like a half-octahedron. In the case of a rectangular shape, this creates a clear edge in the middle. The name of this decoration comes from the similarity of a shaped diamond, which is grinded into this form.

Provenance
Rudolf Neumeister Collection

Master
Melchior Burtenbach (Purtenbach), became around 1637 master. In 1693 he died. A similar beaker can be found in the collection of the Württembergischen Landesmuseum (Inv. No. 4997).

Literature
Jürgen Christern, ‘Diamantquader’, in: Reallexikon zur Deutschen Kunstgeschichte, Vol. III (1954), p. 1424-1429.
Hernmarck, C., Die Kunst der europäischen Gold- und Silberschmiede von 1450 bis 1830, München: Beck Verlag, 1978.
Seling, Helmut, Die Augsburger Gold- und Silberschmiede 1529-1868, Vol. I-III, München: Beck Verlag, 1980-2007.