An important German silver-gilt mounted rhino horn standing cup and cover in fitted red leather case,, Attributed to Johann Melchior Dinglinger and/or to his son Johann Friederich Dinglinger, circa 1736

the tapering rhino horn cup carved in high relief with a bacchanal of putties below the broad silver-gilt lip rim, inscribed with a legend in Latin; hoc qui hauris poculum  venerare memoriam Iohannis Melchioris Dinglingeri  / egregii artificis viri antiquae fidet XXVI liberorum ex uxoribus parentis  /  huius vineae delictis refertae possessore olim atque exornatoris quam  / ut se suosque difficilibus temporibus subduceret ab autore conditam / laetioribus usibus a posteris nunc adhiberi posse divina benignitas clementer annuit. :  Annae Mariae Sartoriae B. Dinglingeri filiae vineae iam dominae ipso S. annae die  / qui eidem simul onomasticus est atque natalis hoc quicquid est munusculi D.D.D. / frater cum sorore ao.r.s. MDCCXXXVI vivat diu cum marito feliciter., the openwork horn stem with vines bearing fruit, centred by a silver-gilt twisted spine, the rhino horn circular base carved with petals with silver-gilt moulded rim, the slightly domed cover surmounted by a bunch grapes (3)

The engraved legend reads in English:
May you who drain this cup honour the memory of
Johann Melchior Dinglinger,
Outstanding craftsman, man of venerable skill,
Father of 26 children by his wives,
once the owner and decorator of this wine cup filled with delights
this wine cup, begun by its creator so that he could support himself
and his family in difficult times
God's kindness has mercifully agreed, can be offered to happier uses by subsequent generations.

To Anna Maria Sartoria,
Daughter of B. Dinglinger and now mistress of the cup on the very day of S. Anna, which for her is at once name day and birthday, this, such a little gift as it is, the giver gave as gift (D.D.D.)
Brother with sister
In the year of our salvation 1736
May she live long and happily with her husband.

According to the legend, this hitherto unpublished and rare rhino horn cup and cover was initially made (decorated) and owned (possesore olim atque exornatoris) by Johann Melchior Dinglinger, the Court Jeweller in Dresden. His daughter Anna Maria (1698-1760), third child by his first wife Anna Dorothea Rachel, married Doctor Friedrich Sartorius in Dresden. In 1736 she received this cup as a gift probably from her younger brother Johann Friedrich (1702-1767), who was also Court Jeweller and Geheimer Kämmerer in Dresden and who seems to have constantly been in financial difficulties. He probably "finished" the cup and authored the inscription.

It is said that Johann Friedrich had to finish his father's work after Johann Melchior's death in 1731. He was so busy doing so that he could not finish his own masterpiece. However, this did not keep August the Strong from appointing him Court Jeweller in 1733, thus allowing Johann Melchior to follow in his father's footsteps. As a Court Jeweller no maker's mark was required, which is the reason why many silver objects once owned by royals are unmarked. Although he made a rather good start in life his financial situation deteriorated. In 1736, after the death of Court Jeweller Köhler he applied for his position am Grünen Gewölbe. In 1748 Johann Friedrich sold his father's house to Anna Maria, then widow of Sartorius. (See Erna von Watsdorf, Johann Melchior Dinglinger, Berlin, 1962, p.340ff).

Johann Melchior Dinglinger's colleague at the court was Balthasar Permoser, sculptor of exotic materials, especially ivory and ebony, who used to work in Florence, but was asked by August the Strong to become his Court Sculptor. See Das Grünes Gewölbe zu Dresden, Munich/Berlin, 1997, p.191 ff. In the Grünes Gewölbe many examples of their fruitful cooperation are on display. Since Permoser's work is very delicate and elegant it must be doubted that he was the sculptor of the rhino horn cup now offered.

Nevertheless, rhino horns used to be carved by artists who specialised in ivory. However the quality of rhino horn is not as refined and dense as ivory, so that in general shapes remained rather coarse.

The horn of the rhinoceros was extremely rare and expensive and therefore deserved to be placed in the Kunstkammer or Wunderkammer. Furthermore, it was thought rhino horn powder could be used for detoxification and as an aphrodisiac. See Dr. I Heller, Europäische Goldschmiedearbeiten, 1580-1860, München, 2003, pp. 25-26. Emperor Rudolph II in Prague had the most celebrated rhinocerotic collection and on an inventory of his Kunstkammer in 1607 the objects of rhino horn were placed on the first page.

An interesting study by T.H. Clarke, The Rhinoceros from Dürer to Stubbs, 1515-1799, Sotheby's publications, 1986, might throw more light on the whereabouts of the eight rhinoceroses that reached Europe alive between 1515 and 1799. Clarke demonstrates that such knowledge helps to date and identify any work of the fine or applied arts in which the rhinoceros appears.

It is likely that Johann Melchior Dinglinger was in the possession of this carved rhino cup and that either he or his son Johann Friedrich manufactured its silver mounts, which were inscribed with the legend in 1736. The tapering form of the cup is typical of the rhino horn shape. In the collection of the Grünes Gewólbe several rhino horn standing cups of similar tapering form are present, one covered and mounted with jewels, the putty finial and putty stem can be compared to the putties on the Dinglinger rhino horn cup, one without cover and without silver mounts, displaying a bacchanal scene. See Joachim Menzhausen, Dresdener Kunstkammer und Grünes Gewölbe, Leipzig, 1977, plate 64. The provenance of both cups is not clear but the author dates them mid 17^th century South Germany.

The provenance of the standing cup and cover, now offered, can be traced, apart from the legend engraved on the rim, to the vaults of Grüne Gewölbe according to family history. It was presented by King Friedrich August III to his court physician Dr. med. Rudolf Biedermann Günther (1828-1905) on the occasion of his retirement.

King Friedrich August was born in 1865 and married Archduchess Louisa, and Princess of Tuscany in Vienna in 1891. In 1903 he made the very unusual decision to divorce, but nonetheless continued to pay great attention to the care of his children. He was an extremely punctual and deeply religious man and never lost faith even in his darkest hour. In politics he steered a central course between traditional views and innovation, but with the collapse of the German Empire and the formation of the Weimar Republic, he was forced to abdicate on 8 November 1918. Afterwards he lived in his favourite castle, Sibyllenort, near Breslau and when he died in 1932 he was buried at the Hofkirche in Dresden. The cup was passed on in the Günther family in Leipzig.

Rudolf Biedermann Günther had an impressive curriculum vitae. After he had studied medicine in Leipzig and after his promotion in 1850 he held various positions as a doctor in Erbenstock and Dresden. At the height of his career he was appointed Präsident des Königlich Sächsischen Landesmedizinalkollegiums zu Dresden in 1889, in 1896 Geheimer Rat and in 1901 Mitglied des Reichsgesundheitsrat. He descended from a family of medical doctors. One of his ancestors Gustav Biedermann Günther (1801-1866) was even more famous than Rudolf Biedermann Günther. See August Hirsch, Biographissches Lexicon der hervoragenden Ärzte aller Zeiten und Völker, Berlin, 1962, Vol II,p.887 and Vol. V, p. 348.