A Breslau partially gilt Renaissance silver gilt tankard
Narrow base with repoussé scrollwork and fruit garlands supporting a cylindrical vessel with corresponding decor and finely chased cherub's head motifs. The finial atop the domed, hinged lid formed as a putto seated between two horns, the top engraved with the coat-of-arms of the von Niemitz family, monogrammed ".A.M.G.V.N.". The base inscribed "SALVBRI SALVANDORVM VSVI IN ECCLESIA REFORMATA COTBVSIENSI DEVOVIT. / P. THEOBALD à SCHARFENEK / ANNO MDCXCI". Above the initials "J.N.J." and "IN CVIVS GLORIAM". H 14.3 cm, weight 586 g.
Slightly mis-struck mark, presumably that of Eucharius Riher, c. 1580.
The knightly von Niemitz family owned several estates in Lower Silesia, near Diersdorf, Wilkau, Senitz and Silbitz, each only a few kilometers from Breslau. The engraved monogram indicates the first owner of this tankard to have been Anna Maria von Niemitz (1568 - after 1597). This is also supported by the 'G' in the monogram, because she married Johann Heinrich von Gregersdorf before 1595, who died on 15th March 1599.
In the parish church of Bad Dirsdorf (today Przerzeczyn-Zdrój) you can still find today various epitaphs of the von Niemitz family dating from the 16th century.
At the end of the 17th century, the vessel must have come into the possession of Theobald von Scharfeneck, who had it engraved with a dedication inscription and donated it the palace church of Cottbus in 1691 for use as a communion jug.
Provenance
Auctioned by Fischer, Heilbronn, 8th Dec. 2018; private collection, Hesse.
Literature
Mentioned in Kurt Reißmann, Die Kunstdenkmäler des Stadt- und Landkreises Cottbus, Berlin 1938. For this decor cf. a tankard in cat. Die Wiener Silber-Sammlung Bloch-Baur/Pick, Vienna 2008, p. 46.