A Flemish silver windmill cup, Antwerp, 1598-1599, maker's mark a six-pointed star

Christie's, New York, 1 May 1985, lot 179,

thence by descent

P. Baudouin, P. Colman, D. Goethals, Orfèvrerie en Belgique XVIe XVIIe XVIIIe Siècles; 1988; n°45

Zilver uit de gouden eeuw van Antwerpen; Antwerp; 1988; vol. I, p.118, n°72

W. Nys; Zilveren wind-watermelonbockers in Europa ca 1530-1760; Gent; 2012; pp.106-107, n°16

In Germany and Flanders, 16th- and 17th-century goldsmithing skillfully combines functionality with entertainment. Many drinking cups take the form of animals to delight guests, depict caricatured figures, or even serve as drinking games like trinkspiels or molenbekers. The latter, a windmill-shaped cup, is particularly popular across Flanders, a region dotted with windmills that form a familiar part of the landscape for its inhabitants. Our goblet is thus topped with a windmill adorned with a dial, hands, and wings. This design typifies the region: a wooden windmill on a central pivot, around which the mill’s frame balances, allowing it to be turned into the wind. The earliest models appear to have a glass body, later replaced by silver bodies. In all models, figures decorate the windmill: a Virgin and Child, a pair of lovers as on our cup, or individuals climbing a ladder with varying success. Sometimes an owl, a jester, a bagpiper, or a man on horseback may also be present. Beneath the windmill, a pipette enables the guest to blow, spinning the hands and wings. The rules of this drinking game are unknown, but it is possible the player must finish the cup before the wings stop, with the dial’s hands determining the number of drinks owed in case of failure—or the hands may assign a number as a forfeit for the player. Such cups also serve as contest prizes, like a goblet bearing Mechelen hallmarks, commissioned by the Saint Christopher Guild of Mechelen for a shooting contest in 1664. Over time, they can also become welcome cups, as well as guild or city cups. Thus, in 1611, Hans Pusch presents a windmill cup to the Archers’ Guild of Breslau.

This type of goblet is thus crafted in Germany, the Netherlands, and Flanders, with the earliest mention dating to 1502. The oldest goblets originate from Leeuwarden and Nuremberg.

Antwerp particularly favors this style, with around fifteen known examples, nearly always of the same model, sometimes with a glass body, such as one sold at Christie’s Amsterdam on September 24, 1985, lot 43, which earliest examples are dated circa 1590. These highly specialized objects become the specialty of certain goldsmiths, like ours—unfortunately unidentified but marked with a six-rayed star. These highly specialized objects become the specialty of certain goldsmiths, like ours—unfortunately unidentified but marked with a six-rayed star. He crafts our tankard in 1598–1599, and we know of five other models by him: one dated 1587–1588 with a windmill, another from 1669–1670, sold at Sotheby’s Geneva, May 14, 1990, lot 84; a second dated 1594–1595, preserved at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam (inv. NM2312); a third dated 1602–1603, its location unknown; a fourth from 1603–1604, held at the Sterckshofmuseum in Deurne (see Silver from Antwerp’s Golden Age, Antwerp, 1988, vol. I, pp. 117–118, nos. 70–73); and a final one dated 1613–1614, preserved at the Honourable Silver Objects in Antwerp. This goldsmith also creates another tankard, kept in a private collection, with a similar design to ours but, instead of a windmill, featuring a pivoting cup that allows two guests to drink simultaneously.