Jug in the shape of a war elephant

Wolff Christof Ritter, c. 1615

This object is a cleverly disguised jug. The turret manned by soldiers can be unscrewed and the body of the elephant filled with wine. The animal alludes to the Carthaginian commander Hannibal, who crossed the Alps with a vast army – and several enormous elephants – to attack the Romans on their own territory in 218 bc.

  • Artwork typeewer, table piece
  • Object numberBK-1958-45
  • Dimensionsheight 26 cm x width 24 cm x depth 9 cm

Identification

  • Title(s)

    Jug in the shape of a war elephant

  • Object type

  • Object number

    BK-1958-45

  • Description

    Tafelstuk van verguld zilver in de vorm van een krijgsolifant. Op de rug draagt het dier een ronde verdededigingstoren met vier krijgslieden, die tevens dienst doet als deksel. Op de hals van de olifant zit de met speer en schild bewapende bestuurder. Het dier is behangen met gegoten renaissanceornamenten van rolwerk en maskarons.

  • Inscriptions / marks

    • maker's mark
    • town mark: ‘N’

Creation

  • Creation

    silversmith: Wolff Christof Ritter, Neurenberg

  • Dating

    c. 1615

  • Search further with

Material and technique

  • Dimensions

    height 26 cm x width 24 cm x depth 9 cm

This work is about

  • Subject

Acquisition and rights

  • Copyright

    Public domain

  • Provenance

    …; sale, Baron Carl Mayer de Rothschild (1820-1886, Frankfurt), Paris (Galerie Georges Petit), 12 June 1911, no 53; his daugther, Emma Louise von Rothschild (1844-1935), Frankfurt and London, 1928;{Jones, 1912, Introduction; Jones 1928, p. 204.} …; collection Dr Fritz Mannheimer (1890-1939), Amsterdam and Paris, 1936;{Von Falke 1936, p. 199, no. Si.20.} purchased from his estate, en bloc, by the Dienststelle Mühlmann, The Hague, for Adolf Hitler's Führermuseum, Linz, 1940;{Korthals Altes 1974, pp. 21-22.} war recuperation, SNK, 1945;{HNA, SNK Archive, 2.08.42, inv. no. 548.} on loan, with 1,702 other objects, from the DRVK to the museum, 1952;{Note RMA.} transferred to the museum, 1960

  • Remarks

    Please note that this provenance was formulated with a special focus on provenance research for the years 1933-45 and could therefore be incomplete. There may be more (mostly earlier) provenance information known in the museum. In case this item has an uncertain or incomplete provenance for the years 1933-45, the Rijksmuseum welcomes information and assistance in the investigation and clarification of the provenance of all works during that era.

Documentation

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  • Jug in the shape of a war elephant
  • Jug in the shape of a war elephant
  • Jug in the shape of a war elephant
  • Jug in the shape of a war elephant
  • Jug in the shape of a war elephant