Beaker

Melchior Lauch

1647–50

Silver, gilt

Minneapolis Institute of Art

A silver beaker is decorated with a relief scene of multiple figures in a tropical landscape with palm trees. The figures are depicted in various poses, some standing and others kneeling. This beaker was made as a wedding gift in the city of Leipzig, which was a commercial hub in the seventeenth century. African goods such as ivory arrived on Europe’s north coast and were transported south downriver to be traded there. The scenes chased in relief reflect this secondhand awareness of African culture. They are derived from the illustrations to a traveler’s account of his visit to Mozambique, en route to India. The tribal chief is depicted wearing a feather headdress, derived from earlier prints of indigenous Americans rather than of Africans. Gallery G310 The Ethel Morrison Van Derlip Fund