Drinking vessel

This drinking vessel is an exquisite treasure from the end of the Renaissance and is of the highest quality. Typically, it has been given a form in which shows a number of Renaissance interests. The love of Antiquity is expressed through the proud goddess of the hunt, Diana, who is carrying a weapon and has her hounds on chains, galloping on her magnificent steed, a noble, crowned hart, also bejewelled with earrings, necklace and a richly designed saddle pad. The decorations on the foot are a superb contrast to the stately hart and its sharp horns and the beautifully shaped and naked goddess. It is a miniature world of man that appears, represented by a hunter, a horse and hounds. The scientific interest of the time is represented by the small, carefully worked reptiles, frogs and lizards, which move over the ground, several of them cast from genuine examples in the animal kingdom.

The Renaissance interest in mechanics and ingenious technical construction can be seen in the octagonal foot and its rich décor. It has a keyhole, hidden beneath a button. If you put in the key and wound up the mechanism hidden in the foot, the entire vessel starts moving, rolling over the banqueting table on small wheels.

It was part of that era’s burlesque and rambunctious drinking habits that the person in front of whom the vessel stopped, should lift up the hart, remove its head and drink the wine stored in the body. It can be imagined that the other guests found it highly amusing that the person drinking, despite all the acrobatics, found it easy to spill the drink.

Around two dozen of these rare objects are known of, originating from Germany. They are roughly contemporaneous and entirely created in the spirit of the Renaissance. They were probably linked to hunting parties or were possibly made as expensive gifts for the crowning of the German emperors.