Tankard with cover

Oval foot, with a sloping stepped footband and similar domed cover. The handle is semicircular. The carved ivory relief is a representation of a Bacchanalian scene. In the interior of the cover the Esterhazy coat-of-arms is engraved, with an inscription around it: "C[omes] P[aulus] E[sterhazy] D[e] Ftrakno] C[omitissa] Utrsula] E[sterhazy] D[e] G[alantha]". Two dates help us to ascertain the date of the work: the year of the first marriage of Pal Esterhazy (1633—1713) and of his being awarded the title of the "Perennial Count of Frakno" and the year of the death of his wife. The tankard was made between these two dates. Marks on the foot: mark of Vienna, and a master's mark, the monogram C S (this letter is not known in the literature). It may be assumed that the following item of the 1725 inventory of the Esterhazy treasury refers to this work: — "Egy Reghi fekete Szinu Tokban Ezustben foglalt Elefant Csontbul Valo fodeles Kanna de valamennyire megh hasatt". "In an old black case an ivory tankard in silver setting, partly split." (Inventarium Thesauri Fraknensis. Anno 1725. Almarium Sub. Nris. 41. et 42. Nr. 13. — Inventory of the Museum of Applied Arts 236/1957).