Georg-wechter-i-design-for-a-columbine-cup-1579

A columbine cup (German: ''Ackleibecher'') is a silver

goblet A chalice (from Latin 'mug', borrowed from Ancient Greek () 'cup') or goblet is a footed cup intended to hold a drink. In religious practice, a chalice is often used for drinking during a ceremony or may carry a certain symbolic meaning. Re ...

in the shape of a columbine flower (''Aquilegia vulgaris''). They were produced in Nuremberg, Germany, in the sixteenth century, often as

masterpieces A masterpiece, ''magnum opus'' (), or ''chef-d’œuvre'' (; ; ) in modern use is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, ...

to demonstrate that a craftsman had the skills necessary to enter a craft guild.

Etymology

The shape of the cups has been compared to the inverted flower of ''Aquilegia vulgaris'' which was thought to resemble a group of

doves Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...

clustered together, resulting in the flower's common name of "columbine" from the Latin ''columbinus'', meaning "like a dove". The word also gave its name to the bird family ''

Columbidae Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...

'', the dove genus ''

Columbina Columbina (in Italian Colombina, meaning "little dove"; in French and English Colombine) is a stock character in the ''commedia dell'arte''. She is Harlequin's mistress, a comic servant playing the tricky slave type, and wife of Pierrot. Rudli ...

'', and the character of

(the "little dove") in the theatrical genre of ''

Commedia dell'arte (; ; ) was an early form of professional theatre, originating from Italian theatre, that was popular throughout Europe between the 16th and 18th centuries. It was formerly called Italian comedy in English and is also known as , , and . Charact ...

''."Columbine cup"
''The Oxford Dictionary of the Renaissance'', online edition, Gordon Campbell (Ed.), Oxford University Press. Retrieved 6 February 2018.

History

Columbine cups were first produced in

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

in the sixteenth century, often as masterpieces to demonstrate the skills required to enter a craft guild."Columbine cup" in Fleming, John &

Hugh Honour Hugh Honour FRSL (26 September 1927 – 19 May 2016) was a British art historian, known for his writing partnership with John Fleming (art historian), John Fleming. Their ''A World History of Art'' (a.k.a. ''The Visual Arts: A History''), is now ...

. (1977) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Decorative Arts. '' London:

Allen Lane Sir Allen Lane (born Allen Lane Williams; 21 September 1902 – 7 July 1970) was a British publisher who together with his brothers Richard and John Lane founded Penguin Books in 1935, bringing high-quality paperback fiction and non-fictio ...

, pp. 198–199. They are first mentioned in 1513 and from 1531 to 1572 were the most important of three items that apprentices were required to submit to the guild in order to move up from

journeyman A journeyman, journeywoman, or journeyperson is a worker, skilled in a given building trade or craft, who has successfully completed an official apprenticeship qualification. Journeymen are considered competent and authorized to work in that fie ...

to master status. The others were a gold ring set with a precious stone and a die for a steel seal. One of the most influential designs for a Columbine Cup was produced in

Georg Wechter Georg Wechter (1526 – 28 March 1586) was a German painter and engraver best known for his gold and silver designs. In 1579 he produced his influential pattern book ''30 Stück zum verzachnen für die Goldschmied verfertigt Geörg Wechter 15 Mal ...

's 1579 pattern book ''30 Stück zum verzachnen für die Goldschmied verfertigt Geörg Wechter 15 Maller 79 Nürnberg'' (Nuremberg, 1579; e.g. Berlin, Kupferstichkab.), which provided 30 designs that any competent

goldsmith A goldsmith is a Metalworking, metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Nowadays they mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, goldsmiths have also made cutlery, silverware, platter (dishware), pl ...

could copy if he could not produce his own.

Examples

Two columbine cups are in the collection of the

Victoria & Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

, one formerly owned by the Nuremberg Goldsmiths Corporation and thought to be from the workshop of

Wenzel Jamnitzer Wenzel Jamnitzer (sometimes Jamitzer, or Wenzel ''Gemniczer'') (1507/1508 – 19 December 1585) was a Northern Mannerist goldsmith, artist, and printmaker in etching, who worked in Nuremberg. He was the best known German goldsmith of his e ...

,Cup, Silver, room 69, case 25.
Victoria & Albert Museum. Retrieved 30 December 2014. and one by an unknown maker. The museum has another on loan to it that was made of gold in London in 1857–58.LOAN:GILBERT.39:1-2008.
Victoria & Albert Museum. Retrieved 6 February 2018. The

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

also has an example that they acquired in 1824. Other examples are in Nuremberg.Museum number 103.
British Museum. Retrieved 6 February 2018.

References

External links

{{commons category inline, Columbine cups Drinkware Silver objects Silversmithing