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Beaker ("Monkey Cup")
Additional Images (18)

Beaker ("Monkey Cup")

Date: ca. 1425–50
Geography: Made in probably the Burgundian territories
Culture: South Netherlandish
Medium: Silver, silver gilt, and painted enamel
Dimensions: Overall: 7 7/8 x 4 5/8 in. (20 x 11.7 cm)
Classification: Enamels-Painted
Credit Line: The Cloisters Collection, 1952
Accession Number: 52.50
On view in Gallery 014
Label Object Information Related Objects Online Resources Video Audio
One of the finest surviving examples of medieval enamel created for a princely table, this beaker illustrates a popular legend that remarks on the folly of man. A peddler is robbed by a band of apes as he sleeps. The peddler, seen just above the base, fails to stir even as the apes strip away his clothes. Other apes, having taken his goods, cavort in the branches overhead. The beaker originally had a cover. The unusual grisaille (shades of gray) enamel technique is found on several other surviving objects, all of which have been associated with the courts of the dukes of Burgundy.
  • Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

    Inscription: Inscribed at top: ARTIBVS QVISTA GLORIA

  • Provenance

    Piero de Medici , Florence (in 1464?) ; Earls of Arundel , England (from 1585?-until 1889?) ; Karl Thewalt , Cologne (by 1900-1903) ; [ Jacques Seligmann , Paris and New York (purchased 1903)] ; J. Pierpont Morgan , London and New York (by 1908 - 1928?) ; [ Duveen Brothers , London, Paris and New York (sold 1928)] ; [ Julius Böhler Kunsthandlung , Munich (1928)] ; Alfred Rütschi , Zurich (before 1929 - by descent to 1952) ; [ Rosenberg & Stiebel , New York (in 1952)]

Some related objects from the collection
Covered Beaker

Covered Beaker
Hans Greiff
(German, active ca. 1470–died 1516 Ingolstadt)
Date: ca. 1470
Medium: Silver, silver gilt, enamel, and cold enamel
Accession Number: 50.7.1a, b
On view in Gallery 014

Covered Beaker

Covered Beaker
Hans Greiff
(German, active ca. 1470–died 1516 Ingolstadt)
Date: ca. 1470
Medium: Silver, silver gilt, enamel, and cold enamel
Accession Number: 50.7.2a, b
On view in Gallery 014

Chalice with the Arms of Housteyn

Chalice with the Arms of Housteyn
Date: second quarter 15th century
Medium: Silver, parcel gilt with traces of enamel
Accession Number: 1989.358
On view in Gallery 014

Enamel Plaque with the Annunciation

Enamel Plaque with the Annunciation
Date: ca. 1440–60
Medium: Silver with translucent and opaque enamels
Accession Number: 1993.273.1
On view in Gallery 014

Enamel Plaque with the Crucifixion

Enamel Plaque with the Crucifixion
Date: ca. 1440–60
Medium: Basse taille enamel, silver
Accession Number: 1993.273.2
On view in Gallery 014

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