A Dutch parcel-gilt silver windmill cup, Johan Hermensz Gramey, (Nijmegen), circa 1640

For a record of the maker’s mark see exhibition catalogue, Nijmeegs Zilver, Nijmegen Museum, 15 October-27 November 1983, p. 22 no. 22.  See the same exhibition p. 46 cat. 16 for a Nijmegen windmill cup of 1639 with similar features including the lobate brackets and thin wire handrail. The body of this cup in the exhibition appears empty where it joins the body as it lacks a calyx.  Such calyxes are rare on surviving windmill cups, probably not because they were made without them but because they have been lost. The drinking game surrounding this type of cup, is thought to have included blowing down the tube which moved the sails, and which was a great aid to intoxification, and then having to drink or buy drinks as many times as the number on the clock where the needle came to rest. The item could not be put down without spilling unless empty. See: Wim Nys, Zilvern wind-watermolenbekers in Europa ca. 1530-1760, Gent, 2012.