A pair of Silesian Zwischengoldglas silhouette portrait mugs by Johann Sigismund Menzel, Warmbrunn, circa 1790

each cylindrical form applied with an oval medallion decorated with a young and old female bust profile portrait to sinister or dexter in black on a burnished gilt ground, within an engraved frame with tied ribbon and floral swags, the gilt-edged rim with a cut band of gilt dots, the reverse and base cut with facets, faceted loop handle  

Helmuth Meißner, Dresden (from whom seized by the East German Secret Service for export in 1982; withdrawn from export for the Kunstgewerbemuseum Berlin (East) at Schloss Köpenick)

Restituted from the Kunstgewerbemuseum Berlin to the heirs of Helmuth Meißner in 2007

For the type see S.Baumgärtner, Porträtgläser, p.120, pls.166 and 167.

Johann Sigismund Menzel (1744-1810) was a glass decorator at Warmbrunn using the Zwischengoldglas technique who today is best known for his silhouetted portrait medallions of leading figures of European society at the end of the 18th century.