The combination of matte snakeskin decoration with a gilded band of fully blossoming flowers is extremely rare. Only one other similar beaker is known, now in the Hungarian National Museum, Budapest, and that bears the mark of a different goldsmith. The engraved date 1683 is consistent with the object’s style. The mysterious mark GH probably refers to an unidentified master. Discovering the meaning of this mark will help to establish a more specific place of origin for the piece.

Literature
European Silver. Sale cat., Sotheby’s, Geneva, May 16, 1994, p. 67, no. 167.
Judit H. Kolba. Hungarian Silver: The Nicolas M. Salgo Collection. London, 1996, p. 79, no. 57.

References
There is a very similar beaker in the collection of the Hungarian National Museum with a different mark published in Judit H. Kolba. Schätze des ungarischen Barock. Exh. cat. Deutsches Goldschmiedehaus Hanau. Hanau, 1991, p. 82, no. 42.

[Wolfram Koeppe 2015]