PXL_20240329_215737560

Imperial eagle beaker, Bohemia or Central Germany, 1599.
An enameled double-headed eagle, crowned and haloed, talons outstretched, and wings fully spread, fills most of this vessel’s surface. Such imperial eagles were the emblem of the Holy Roman Empire.

Satirical beaker, Northern Germany, 1660.
This beaker lampoons Jean T’Serclaes, count of Tilly (1559-1632), a capable military leader who, in the eyes of Protestants, became a symbol of Catholic excesses during the Thirty Years’ War (1618-48). The lengthy inscription refers to his disgrace and miserable wanderings, with only an old goat for company. The unsympathetic Protestant point of view indicates that the beaker was made in northern Germany.