Lot Essay
The decoration on the present lot is closely related to the designs of German printer and engraver Heinrich Aldegrever (1502-1555⁄61), who originally trained as a goldsmith. A print in the collection of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam specifically depicts very similar scrolled foliage to that seen on this tankard, while a further print shows two spoons which are similar in form to the tankard's handle (obj. nos. RP-F-2001-7-1277-15 and 46). When the present tankard was sold at Christie's, London in 1967, the department notes that it was brought in by a gentleman who had found it on the counter of an iron monger's shop full of nails.