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Lot 22
A large green tinted Berkemeyer, Dutch or German, late 16th or 17th century
21 May 2014, 10:30 BST
London, New Bond Street£40,000 - £60,000
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A large green tinted Berkemeyer, Dutch or German, late 16th or 17th century
The flared bowl merging into a cylindrical section applied with two rows of four large smooth watery prunts beneath a trailed thread, the foot applied with a spun footring, high kick-in base, 15.1cm high
Footnotes
Provenance: The Overduin Collection
The Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje Collection, sold by Frederik Muller & Cie, 8 July 1931, lot 557
With Anny Wafelman-Morpurgo, sold 16 November 2008
The linguistic origins of the term 'Berkemeyer' lie in the Northern Netherlands, although the majority of Berkemeyers in the Netherlands were the products of German workshops. Berkemeyers were originally produced as wooden beakers with lids carved from the branch of a birch tree (a 'berkemei'). The prunts on the stem were considered reminiscent of the rough bark, hence the name association. Together with Roemers, Berkemeyers were the preferred vessels for the consumption of wine and feature frequently in 17th and 18th century still life paintings by the Dutch Masters. As with Roemers, the prunts on their stem provided a secure grip during feasting. Their increasing size was a result of technical advancements in glass production rather than increasing alcohol consumption, with large examples such as this usually reserved for special occasions in which the glass was filled and passed around for drinking and toasting. Very similar Berkemeyers are illustrated by Pieter van Eck and Henrica Zijlstra-Zweens, Glass in the Rijksmuseum Vol I (1993), pp. 129-132, cats. 179-186, and by Brigitte Klesse, Kunstgewerbemuseum der Stadt Köln: Glas (1963), p. 68, cat. 99. For a similar example see Anna-Elisabeth Theuerkauff-Liederwald, 'Der Römer', Journal of Glass Studies 10 (1968), p. 132, fig. 15. Very similar Berkemeyers have been sold by Christie's Amsterdam, 5 July 1989, The Guepin Collection, lot 6, and by Sotheby's London, 14 November 1995, The Joseph Ritman Collection, lot 7. Another of similar size was also sold by Sotheby's as part of the Ritman Collection, lot 8, and was later sold in these rooms, Bonhams, 2 May 2013, The Muhleib Collection, lot 48.