Tankard

Description

This large cylindrical tankard supported by three talon and ball feet is richly chased and engraved on the lid and with robust flowers on the lower body, recalling a taste in silver embellishment that began more than a century earlier. The silver coin inset in the lid, dated 1711, was minted in Copehagen to commemorate Frederik IV, King of Denmark and Norway (1699-1730). Although Frederik was long dead when the tankard was made, Danish rule of Norway endured through the Napoleonic wars. For the tankard's first owner, the crowned lion thumb piece may have symbolized monarchy at time just before Norway's political leadership altered dramatically. Although the exterior's symbolism is evocative regarding wealth and possible political views, the interior provides the most clear information about the tankard's use. Ten small projecting cylindrical pegs soldered on the handle side indicate communal drinking, giving this vessel its familiar name of "peg tankard." Such vessels were also produced in wood, and preseve a cultural practice of each person drinking down one peg of volume and sharing the rest. Like a "pass glass," the tankard might be used for celebrations and convivial entertainments.