Composed of several pieces of alder wood, this highly inventive ewer, with its slender neck, double handle, and exuberant spout, is a marvel of virtuoso carving. Following the tradition of designs for ornamental vases by seventeenth-century artists such as the French engraver Jean le Pautre and the Netherlandish engraver Claes Jansz. Visscher, the ewer's profile is enveloped by a multiplicity of decorative elements. The putti, garlands of fruit and flowers, and large sinuous foliage recall the spirited and fluid style of Flemish carving as expressed in elaborate sculpted pulpits and the balustrades of grand staircases. The reclining figure in the center (see detail), crowned with vines, and his female companion may well be Bacchus, god of wine, and Ceres, goddess of agriculture, while the playful putti on the sides may allude to Venus. If so, the ewer could illustrate the saying "Sine Cerere et Baccho, friget Venus," implying that without food and drink, love is left out in the cold. The ewer has not yet yielded all its secrets: Was it, for instance, part of a larger decorative ensemble for a stately dining room, or perhaps a model to be executed in silver? Also, the identity of Henricus Ioseph W [. . .], inscribed in ink underneath the base, is not known.