Tankard
The nutshell that forms this tankard would have been picked by workers in Southeast Asia or Melanesia, shipped to a European port city, and then sent inland to be ornamented by a German carver and goldsmith. This example features densely carved arabesques in a style adapted from contemporary Islamic metalwork. The lengthy journey undertaken by the raw material would have been appreciated by its owner, as despite the coconut’s foreign origin it was familiar even to those in the landlocked territories of the Holy Roman Empire by at least the thirteenth century.
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