Stein Collectors International
Featured Stein: March 2024
Stein Collectors International
Featured Stein:
March 2024
The magnificent C1640 ivory and gilt silver tankard shown on the right is part of the Habsburg Imperial Collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, Austria.
The tankard is decorated with masterfully carved scenes of drunken revelry. Bacchus, god of wine, pursues a nymph while his cohort of revelers surrounds him, laughing, playing music, and harvesting grapes.
At the top of the lid, a small ivory figure of Amor, god of love, observes the path of an arrow he appears to have just shot.
The stein was crafted by master goldsmith and ivory carver Hans Jakob I. Bachmann. He was born in Memmingen, Germany in 1574 and died in Augsburg, Germany in 1651. His work was characterized by its finely crafted features, attention to detail, delicate artistry, and ornate decoration.
Once one of Europe's most powerful and long-lived dynasties, the Habsburgs served as emperors of the Holy Roman Empire, the highest secular authority in medieval and Renaissance Europe. The magnificent ivory and gilded silver tankard was likely never actually used as a drinking vessel. Instead, it was displayed as a symbol of the Habsburgs' wealth and refinement.