Lot 09

BAROQUE HUMPEN

Richly decorated very rare "Humpen" (tall beaker) with enamel decoration with three scenes. The wooded hill refers to Mount Ochsenkopf, the highest peak in the Fichtelberg region near the Czech border. The scene is complemented by the heads of animals - an ox head in the centre and a fox and a wolf, a hare and a deer on the sides, which symbolise the four rivers that flow here: 'Mayn Eger Nab Saal'. The text celebrates the local landscape with a paradisiacal promise. The paintings also feature allegories of the sun and moon. Dated: 1696. This is an early collector's specimen from the Erzgebirge region. The oldest surviving example of Humpen does not date before the mid-16th century. The diameter given is the dimension of the base.