A pair of German silver-gilt stacking beakers, Caspar Widmann, Nuremberg, circa 1565

cylindrical, engraved with alternative visions of a hare hunt, applied central rims above engraved and stippled arabesques and strapwork, cast and chased bases incorporating masks and flowers, the underside with three conjoined armorials and dated 1565 

Probably Catharina Mufflin von Eschenau (?-1576)

Associated literature

Isle O'Dell-Franke, Kupferstiche und Radierungen aus der Werkstatt des Virgil Solis, Wiesbaden 1977.

Adelbert von Keller, Hans Sachs, herausgegeben durch den literarischen Verein in Stuttgart, 1870

 

One with very small split where foot and body meet, gilding on this one looks more matt inside than the other, armorials have scratches on them (as seen in catalogue image p.178), marks clear, general condition of objects and engraving good.
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The three armorials on the inside of the foot are those of Muffel, Tucher and Rieter,  most probably for Catharina Mufflin v. Eschenau (?-1576) and her two husbands Hieronymus Tucher (1502-1546) and Hans Rieter the younger von Kornburg zu Kornburg und Kalbensteinberg (1501-1559)  She married the first in 1531 and the second in 1547 (see detail).

Catharina's Mufflin's portrait can be found in at least two genealogical manuscripts - so-called Geschlechterbücher - commissioned by Nuremberg Patrician families and today preserved at the Stadtarchiv Nürnberg. Such volumes were created in Nuremberg and other free towns such as Augsburg and Frankfurt, to document the patrician family's history and importance for future generations. The most famous Geschlechterbuch from Nuremberg is a richly illuminated copy of the so-called Große Tucherbuch which was illustrated between 1590 and 1606 by Jost Amman and Georg Hertz.

The date of 1565 which is engraved on the beaker may commemorate a family event, possibly connected to Hans Rieter the elder (1522-1584). He became commander of Nuremberg's armed forces in 1565. This Hans Rieter the elder and Catharin Mufflin's second husband Hans Reiter the younger belonged to different Branches of the Rieter familiy, the Kornburg und Kalbersteinberg branch and the Nuremberg branch. Hans Rieter the elder (1522-1584 who became military commander of Nuremberg) had an elder brother Anton. This Anton inherited the Kornburg and Kalbensteinberg territories from Catharina Mufflin's husband Hans Rieter the younger (1501-1559) and in turn these estates were inherited by Hans Rieter the elder when his brother Anton died in 1563. 

Nuremberg at this time was a powerful and wealthy free city, ruled not by a sovereign but by a limited group of politically economically and socially privileged Patrician families of merchants. Only these families were eligible for important political offices such as membership of the city council Innere Rat. The Muffel, Tucher and Rieter families of Nuremberg were all Patrician. Albrecht Durer painted the wedding portraits of Hans and Felicitas Tucher as well as the Tucher and Rieter amorials to commemorate their marriage in 1499 (Schlossmuseum Weimar) See: Hugh Tait, catalogue of the Waddesdon Bequest in the British Museum, II the silver plate, London 1988, pp. 111-121 for a detailed description of the Tucher covered cups of 1568 in silver-gilt by Christoph Lindenberger and reference to the limoges enamel `Tucher service' with mounts by the `Cellini of the North'  Wenzel Jamnitzer direct contemporary of Christoph Lindenberger and the maker of these beakers Caspar Widmann.

The scenes engraved on these beakers are most probably based on the Nuremberg artist Virgil Solis's prints (1514-1562). I. O'Dell Franke records two scenes by Virgil Solis which show the usual order turned upside down and normally hunted animals in the role of hunter. She notices the influence on these images of Hans Sachs (1494-1576) whose poem Die Hasen fangen unnd braten den jeger  (the hares catch and roast the hunter) was published in April 1550