Drinking Cup in the Form of a Horse and Rider in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, February 2020

Drinking Cup in the Form of a Horse and Rider
1630

Object Details

Title: Drinking Cup in the Form of a Horse and Rider

Artist: Hans Ludwig Kienle (German, 1591–1653)

Date: 1630

Culture: German, Ulm

Medium: Silver (partially gilded)

Dimensions: Height: 12 3/8 in. (31.5 cm)

Classification: Metalwork-Silver

Credit Line: The Art Institute of Chicago


These examples of the goldsmith’s art can have their heads removed so their bodies can be used as drinking cups. The complex techniques required to produce them likely served as a topic of educated conversation in the Kunstkammer. The vessel shaped like a fox holding a goose echoes imagery in the coat of arms of its patron, Heinrich von Bobenhausen, head of the influential Teutonic Order of Knighthood. A guest invited to partake in a ritual of welcoming would drink from a symbol of his host. Kienle’s gilding conveys the energy of his sculptural stallion, highlighting the differences between its musculature and that of its human rider. Video Kienle made his horse and rider through the lost-wax casting process demonstrated here. A solid carved-wax model is translated into a plaster mold. The interior of the mold is coated with a thin layer of wax to create a hollow duplicate of the original. The hollow wax model is then filled with plaster and encased in clay. The wax is melted out of the mold and silver is cast inside, creating an exact replica of the hollow model in precious metal.


Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/785611