This substantial beaker could hold large quantities of wine. The polished scrolls and fruit clusters that project from a matte ground evoke a feeling of abundance that reflects the beaker’s lavish function. Similar auricular (literally “ear-shaped”) scrollwork can be seen on the lidded example to the left. This beaker may also originally have had a cover. An auricular-style scrollwork ornament, which originated in the Netherlands in the early seventeenth century (Antje-Maria van Graevenitz. Das niederländische Ohrmuschelornament. Bamberg, 1973), similar to that decorating this voluminous beaker can be seen on a lidded example from the collection, acc. no. 2010.110.38.

Literature
Fine European Silver. Sale cat., Sotheby’s, Geneva, November 14, 1988, p. 32, no. 73.
Judit H. Kolba. Hungarian Silver: The Nicolas M. Salgo Collection. London, 1996, p. 75, no. 53.

References
Elemér Kőszeghy. Magyarországi ötvösjegyek a középkortól 1867-ig / Merkzeichen der Goldschmiede Ungarns vom Mittelalter bis 1867. Budapest, 1936, no. 687 [maker’s mark].

[Wolfram Koeppe 2015]