German Antique Silver Owl Drinking Cup, Chester 1904.

GBP 4,950.00

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Object Description

A superb antique silver standing cup in the Renaissance style modelled in the form of an owl with hinged wings. The pull off head is gilded inside. Beautifully modelled and engraved, the quality is very realistic.

Weight 515g, 16.5 troy oz.
Height 25.2cm, 10.4ins. Spread (wings out) 17cm.
Chester 1904.
Maker L Neresheimer, Hanau.
Sterling silver.

Marks. The collar of the drinks flask is fully stamped with German marks for L Neresheimer of Hanau, Germany and also for the importer Berthold Muller. The collar, head and both wings are all marked with Chester sterling silver import marks for London 1904.

Maker: Ludwig Neresheimer

This silver manufacture was founded in 1893 as B. Neresheimer and Sohne, becoming L. Neresheimer & Co. in 1903. The German silversmithing company based in Hanau was known for producing high-quality, decorative silver objects like tankards, cups, and figural pieces. Many of their pieces were imported and sold in other countries, carrying the maker’s mark and import marks from cities like London.

Neresheimer is probably the best well known of the Hanoi silversmith firms operating around the turn of the 19th century. The antique silver industry of Hanau specialised in excellent copies of old master silversmiths’ work, particularly Nuremberg pieces, double lady cups, old goblets, snuff boxes and so on. These copies were marked with fantasy marks, somewhat resembling old marks, which also harmonized with the style of the piece. For example, French rococo style reproductions are marked with French looking marks, German seventeenth century-inspired pieces got German-looking marks, and so on. These marks were usually in a style reminiscent of seventeenth and eighteenth century maker’s marks.

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Object History

The offering of a “welcome cup,“ of wine to a guest was a long established tradition throughout Europe, and resulted by the late 16th century in the creation of imaginative animal-form drinking cups with detachable heads. The surviving cups from this period, formed as stags, owls, horses, dogs, and other creatures, comprise some of the most attractive, amusing, and desirable objects ever made in silver or, more usually, silver-gilt.

Object Condition

This delightful silver owl is in very good condition with minor signs of wear compatible with age. the head is very tight fitting.

Object Details

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Vault 31-32
The London Silver Vaults
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London WC2A 1QS

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