Jewellery, Watches, Silver and Objects of Vertu

A late 16th century German silver and ‘lemon’ parcel-gilt ‘monatsbecher’ by Hans Erne, Strasbourg, circa 1580,

of flared design and engraved in the manner of Virgil Solis (1514-1562), the decoration emblematic of the month of May, finely engraved below the rim with a broad band of panels beneath, the inscription ‘SECHT / WELCH / EIN / MENSCH / ISTDAS / DER / MEY / BRINGT / BLIEMLEIN / MANIGFAT / MACHT / FRISCH / GEBLVET / IVNG / VND / ALT’, the foot with a further band of engraved decoration of fruit and foliage, reserving three panels of a stag and hounds, the base with assay scrape, maker’s mark conjoined ‘HE’, town mark for Strasbourg, height 10cm. £2,000-£3,000

The engraved inscription translates as ‘The month of May brings magnificent flowers and makes fresh blooms young and old.’

The small German beakers known as ‘monatsbecher’ (‘month beakers’) were made in sets of a dozen, one beaker for each month of the year, and used almost exclusively in German-speaking countries. They were fashionable between the early 16th and mid 17th centuries. This example will have been the fifth in a set of twelve.

These cups were popularised by the designs of Virgil Solis (1516-1564), a German draughtsman, skilled in engraving, etching and woodcut, and one of Nuremberg’s most prolific printmakers and book illustrators.



The engraved or embossed scenes are often allegorical and inspired by the Labours of the Months. The month of May was associated with courtship and merrymaking and can be seen here in the depiction of figures playing backgammon and drinking in a boat and in the couple bathing together. The significance to mankind of Blood, Water and Wine, both sacred and profane, can also be interpreted; sacramental (a panel depicting Christ: Ecce Homo); medicinal (scene of blood-letting); hospitality (a servant preparing a dinner table). Further references to the month of May include the depiction of lily of the valley or ‘Maiglöckchen’ in German, translating literally as ‘little May bells’, together with the panel depicting ‘twins’ amidst clouds representing the astrological sign for Gemini, against which is visible the numeral ‘5’ for the month of May.


For a similar silver and parcel-gilt ‘monatsbecher’ by Courakt Grenter, Strasbourg, circa 1560, see the Salting Collection, V & A (Room 62, The Foyle Foundation Gallery).

We are grateful to the Goldsmiths’ Hall Library for assistance in researching the maker’s mark.

Literature:
The maker’s mark is identified from:
L'orfèvrerie de Strasbourg dans les collections publiques française, by Hans Haug,
pub. Éditions des Musées nationaux, Palais du Louvre, Paris, 1978.
Old Silver of Europe and America: from early Times to the Nineteenth Century. by E. Alfred Jones, pub. B.T.Batsford Ltd., London 1928.