Tankards. A tankard is a form of drinkware consisting of a large, roughly cylindrical, drinking cup with a single handle. Tankards are usually made of silver, pewter, or glass, but can be made of other materials, for example wood, ceramic or leather. A tankard may have a hinged lid, and tankards featuring glass bottoms are also fairly common. Tankards are shaped and used similarly to beer steins. Reference: Wikipedia
A George II silver tankard by Humphrey Payne, London 1744 Straight-sided form, with a domed lid and ram’s horn thumb-piece, height 18cm, weight 23.5oz.
Sold for £ 1,125 inc. premium at Bonhams in 2018
19th century lidded tankard with decorated handle with two ivory heat breakers and small pouring spout. The decoration on the exterior is in two registers; above is a vine scroll full of grapes and below are Indian figures, on horseback and on foot, hunting. On the top of the hinged lid is a caparisoned elephant with mahout set within a floral circle. The interior is of plain shiny silver, indicating the presence of a separate silver skin; only the lid is without this element. The handle has a dense mass of floral decoration. On the base is a coat of arms made up of shield, scroll, and an arm in armour at the top.
Reference: © The Trustees of the British Museum
A SWEDISH PARCEL-GILT SILVER TANKARD MARK OF JOHAN WALLMAN, VARBARG, MAKER’S MARK ONLY STRUCK TWICE, FIRST-QUARTER 18TH CENTURY On three pomegranate feet, the flat hinged cover finely engraved with cherubim and flowers and with acanthus bud and pomegranate thumbpiece, the cover inset with medallion dated 1682, the front later inset with medallion within later engraved cartouche 7 ¼ in. (18.4 cm.) high 36 oz. 4 dwt. (1,125 gr.)
Sold for USD 10,625 at Christies in
American Colonial Silver Tankard Benjamin Burt, Boston, late 18th century Tapering cylindrical form with molded band at waist, with hinged stepped dome cover with spiral finial and scroll thumbpiece, with S-scroll handle, and later spout. Height 9 inches, approximately 29 ounces.
Sold for $1,875 (includes buyer’s premium) at Doyle New York in 2019
AN ITALIAN STERLING SILVER TANKARD
20th century Etched and embossed with scrolls, flowers and a central cartouche, gilt interior Marked15 cm high Approx. 500 grams
Sold for $440 at Tiroche Auction House in 2019
Tankard,1649 Images based on printed designs by Dietrich Mayer This heavy silver tankard unites material worth with prized artistry. Extraordinarily innovative in technique and design compared to the nearly contemporary chalice displayed nearby, it has curved glass panels painted with figurative scenes set like windows in the tankard form with hinged lid and handle. Privileging the user, the vessel would have revealed other paintings on the interior as the contents were drunk: of a mythological hero, perhaps Hercules, and of a nude lady in an arbor.
Reference: The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Tankard German or English about 1620
The black serpentine body of the tankard is bombé in shape, with two registers of horizontal molding at the mid-section and below the rim. The base is mounted with a silver foot rim with serrated bezel. The mid-section and rim of the vessel are encircled with molded silver bands to which the ear-shaped handle is attached. The silver cover is stepped and slightly domed. The thumbpiece is in the form of an elongated scroll. The stone vessel is lathe turned. The silver foot ring, moldings and handle are fabricated. The cover is raised. Ranging in color from green to red and black, the stone known as serpentine was mined from India to Germany. Like rhinoceros horns in Asia, it was believed to detect poison and to have healing properties. This example was turned on a lathe before it was mounted with silver.
Reference: Museum of Fine Arts Boston
AN AMERICAN SILVER TANKARD, THOMAS SAVAGE, BOSTON AND BERMUDA, CIRCA 1705 tapered cylindrical with molded baseband, flat-domed cover with shaped front, scroll handle springing from elongated drop and ending in cherub-head finial, cut-card work at lower handle mount, moon and dolphin thumbpiece above hinge applied with wrigglework marked left of handle and center of base TS above star in heart (Kane mark A) height 7 in. 17.8 cm 25 oz 10 dwt 796 g
Sold for 15,000 USD at Sothebys in 2019
Tankard with pear-shaped body decorated in underglaze blue; three reserved panels divided by floral scrolls painted with landscapes, figures and birds; mounted with silver-gilt lid incorporating a German coin dated 1616
This tankard was made at Arita, where porcelain was made for export to Europe starting in about 1650. The decoration of figures in a fantastic landscape was probably drawn by a Japanese following a Dutch design after a Chinese original. Tankards of this kind were usually mounted in pewter or silver, and a pre-formed hole in the handle served for the attachment of a lid and thumb-rest. On this piece the German silver-gilt lid is inset with a coin commemorating John Ernest, Duke of Saxe-Weimar, and his seven sons. The coin was struck in 1616 and the lid has a punched date of 1664. The lid was probably not fitted to the pot, however, until the 19th century.
Reference: © Victoria and Albert Museum
This tankard’s most distinctive feature is the unusually complex lid with three arches supporting a central finial. Equally elaborate is its Baroque scrolled handle. The decoration in opaque and painted filigree enamel is raised over a finely textured gilt surface. Each of the three sections of the body, defined by vertical bands, contains a medallion showing multicolored peacocks and a tree of life, large leaves, and blossoms. Interspersed in the surrounding interlace, are four exotic creatures: birds with combs, dove-like birds, rabbits, and quadrupeds, most likely tigers. The predominant colors include three shades of blue, turquoise, green, violet, and white with foiled red and foiled orange highlights. In addition, significant portions of interlace are black. Inscribed on the base of the tankard: Andenken / Neapel / 1880 (Memory of Naples, 1880)
Reference: The Walters Art Museum
