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Silversmith: Vianen, Christiaen van (Attributed to)
Silver, raised, embossed, and chased, in auricular style, with cast foot and raised finial in the form of a crouching partly clad man looking to his left
Silver, raised, embossed and chased, with cast foot and raised, hollow finial. The cup stands on a shaped octagonal footring. The rounded sides contract into a short neck and expand into a shaped rim with four rounded lobes separated by four narrow, spout-like lobes. On opposing sides there are ear-shaped handles, each made of two broad serpents, whose heads pass through a monster's head and project to right and left at the top, and whose tails entwine at the lower end. The cover has a shaped edge to match the top of the porringer, and rises up in the centre where there is a crouching possibly defecating, partly clad man, looking to his left. The body is decorated overall with auricular ornament forming grotesque masks: a fish-mask on the front and back, a male mask under each handle and between them, four masks of indeterminate creatures. The cover is decorated with auricular scrolls and masks round its edge, and with four open-mouthed masks below the man. There are traces on the cup and cover of erased arms.
History note: Possibly acquired by George Hibbert, Esq. (1757-1837), of Munden, Hertfordshire, the celebrated collector, and thence by descent: Christie's, London, 4th November 1998, Fine Silver and Objects of Vertu, catalogue pp. 72-5, lot 123. Sold for £71,900 including premium. Export license withheld.
Purchased with the H.S.Reitlinger Fund and grants from the National Art Collections Fund, and the MGC\V&A Purchase Grant Fund.
Height: 18.6 cm
Height: 7⅜ in
Weight: 831 g
Weight: 26 : 14 oz : dwt
Method of acquisition: Bought (1999-07-12) by Christie's
17th Century, third quarter
Charles II
Circa
1660
CE
-
1667
CE
In the Restoration period in England, two-handled covered cups, known as porringers, were used for posset and other drinks. Silver examples usually had a cover, and were sometimes accompanied by a salver. This one is unusual in being decorated in the auricuar style, characterised by undulating forms reminiscent of an ear. Grotesque fish-like and human masks seem to emerge from its rippling surface. The handles are in the form of serpents, and on top is a mysterious crouching figure. The cup is unmarked, suggesting that it was made by an immigrant craftsman who was not admitted to the Goldsmiths' Company. The most likely was Christian van Vianen (c. 1600/05 - 1667), who came from an illustrious Utrecht family of silversmiths, and was an accomplished exponent of the auricular style. Van Vianen worked in London between 1632 and 1643 in the pay of Charles I, and returned in 1660 when he was appointed 'Silversmyth in Ordinary' to Charles II. The porringer is comparable to one in a book of designs by his father, Adam van Vianen (c. 1568-1627) published by Christian in Utrecht in 1650. An almost similar cup and cover in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, is engraved with the arms and crest of Sir John Evelyn (1620-1706), respectively on the pot and cover. The Fitzwilliam's has traces of an erased arms, but no evidence has been found to indicate that it was a pair to the one in Boston.
Across Handles
Width 20.3 cm
Width 8¼ in
Foot
Raising (metal forming process)
: Silver, raised, embossed and chased, with cast foot and raised, hollow finial in the form of a crouching man
Embossing
Chasing
Accession number: M.2 & A-1999
Primary reference Number: 28827
Entry form number: 111
Stable URI
Owner or interested party:
The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department:
Applied Arts
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The Fitzwilliam Museum (2025) "Two-handled cup" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/28827 Accessed: 2025-03-27 02:53:06
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{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/28827
|title=Two-handled cup
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2025-03-27 02:53:06|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
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<img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/aa/aa19/M_2_1999.jpg"
alt="Two-handled cup"
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<figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Two-handled cup</figcaption>
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