Object Description
Fine Viennese Enamelled and Gilt Glass Beaker, Melk Abbey, c.1830
Austrian, c. 1830
Height 11.5cm, diameter 8.5cm
This radiant Viennese beaker is a fine example of Biedermeier enamelled glass, dating from the early 19th century and depicting the great Benedictine abbey of Melk (Stift Melk) in Lower Austria.
Of characteristic Ranftbecher form, the beaker rises from a spreading foot cut with a thick faceted rim — the Ranft from which the type takes its name — set with a ring of amber-stained lenses and finished beneath by a radiating star-cut motif. Its clear glass body, painted in transparent and polychrome enamels, is dominated at the front by a sweeping panorama of the abbey: its twin towers, central dome and long monastic ranges rise dramatically upon a rocky bluff above the River Danube, while below a winding road, riverside cottages and wooded slopes tumble down towards the water, every element rendered with remarkable topographical precision and jewel-like colour. Set upon the scene is a finely painted heraldic cartouche bearing the arms of the abbey, a quartered shield with crossed keys, displayed eagles and a six-pointed star, surmounted by an abbot’s mitre and crozier and supported by a pair of winged genii. Slender gilt Gothic pilasters frame the composition and separate it from further landscape and village vignettes to the sides, while the flared rim is enriched with a band of gilt Gothic-inspired ornament suspending a delicate lambrequin of gilt drops. The view is identified in gilt cursive to the lower border, Ansicht der Benediktiner Abtei Melk.
During the Biedermeier period, finely enamelled souvenir glasses depicting Austria’s most celebrated monuments became one of Vienna’s most admired artistic specialities. Foremost among their makers was the celebrated Hausmaler (independent glass painter) Anton Kothgasser (1769–1851), whose work, together with that of his circle, established these richly decorated Ranftbecher among the most desirable products of Viennese glassmaking. Here, the luminous amber staining, finely painted heraldry, and delicate enamel decoration make for an especially attractive example of the genre.
Glowing with colour and painted with remarkable delicacy, this elegant Ranftbecher preserves in miniature the romance and devotional splendour of one of Austria’s most magnificent monastic houses.